Plokstine – A Preserved Nuclear Missile Site in Lithuania

April 21, 2019April 21, 2019 CarloRLeave a comment

While almost all nuclear sites you can find in European Countries once beyond the Iron Curtain are today totally abandoned and fairly unaccessible, there exists a perhaps unique exception. The Plokstine site in northwestern Lithuania has been selected around 2010 for complete refurbishment with the help of public money, and in 2012 it has opened its doors as a museum. Located in a beautiful natural setting crowded with hikers – namely Zemaitija National Park, a national recreation area around Plateliai lake – it has quickly grown to international fame, and is now recording several thousands visitors per year, with guided tours in multiple languages – including English – offered on a regular basis during the warm season.

What is today an intriguing tourist destination, used to be part of a large Soviet installation for launching ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads. It is worth mentioning that Lithuania was a ‘Soviet Socialist Republic’ in the realm of the USSR, i.e. not just a satellite country of the Soviet Union, but part of it. Actually, this small country on the shores of the Baltic Sea, on the extreme western border of Soviet territory, was an ideal location for deploying weapons to hit European targets from within the Union. Furthermore, the Plokstine forest was – and still is – a little populated area, where construction works for a large top-secret military facility for storing and operating offensive cutting-edge hi-tech warfare would go likely unnoticed.

The missile complex was completed in December 1962, in the years of Khrushchev and Kennedy. The Plokstine site comprises of four interred silos and an extensive underground command station in the middle – the ensemble constituted a so-called ‘Dvina’ launch complex.

The ‘Dvina’ site in Plokstine was actually the last part of the missile base to be built. Two more sister surface sites, with four launchpads each, had been completed one year before, just west of the nearby village of Saiteikiai. These surface sites were similar to those you can find in Latvia (see this post), a neighbor country where unfortunately the last remaining ‘Dvina’ site was demolished in 2017, but abundant traces of the Soviet presence can still be found.

All three launch complexes in this region were designed around the R-12 missile. The R-12U missile was actually used in the underground ‘Dvina’ complex, slightly different from the surface-launched R-12. This weapon was better known by its NATO designation – SS-4 Sandal – and was a 2.3 megaton, single warhead, single stage nuclear missile. It reached true international notoriety before the base in Plokstine was activated, for this was the type deployed to Cuba in the missile crisis of 1962. Coincidentally, part of the staff transferred to Cuba in the days preceding the crisis was from the same rocket regiment of the Red Army (the 79th) stationed in Plokstine. Sandal missiles from here were reportedly transferred in complete secrecy to Cuba, via the port town of Sevastopol in Crimea in that occasion.

The base remained operational until the last missile – by then obsolete – left in 1978.

The Baltics were the first republics to leave the dying Soviet Union, openly defying the military authority of neighbor Russia. After the collapse of the Union and the end of communism in Europe, these three states – which historically do not belong to Russian culture – quickly joined the NATO and European Union, to escape Russian influence as much as possible. Most Soviet military installations were shut down and abandoned, and have been for two decades an interesting destination for explorers and war historians (see this post for many examples). Later on, most sites have been slowly demolished or converted into something else. Really a few of them have been preserved for posterity.

In this post you can find photographs from the Cold War Museum now open in the former ‘Dvina’ site of Plokstine, from a visit in 2017. Close to the bottom, you can find a few further photographs from a previous visit made by appointment in 2009, before the site was selected for renovation – these may be more appealing for Soviet-aura lovers!

Sights

What can be visited today is all in the area of the old ‘Dvina’ complex. The complex is mainly composed of four interred silos, covered by heavy steel & concrete bulged covers, placed on the four corners of a square. These gigantic caps are the most prominent components of the site from the outside. Today, an observation deck has been erected on the south of the area. From there, you can appreciate the distinctive plan of the ‘Dvina’ complex, with an access road terminating in a loop touching all four armored silo covers.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

The weight of each cover is told to be around 100 tonnes, as it was armored to withstand a nuclear explosion. The covers would be pulled sideward with a sled mechanism, to open the silos before launch. Unmovable missile launch complexes, like the ‘Dvina’ site in Plokstine, were easy and attractive targets for western weapons, thus requiring a very strong defense barrier. Similar considerations led the design of the Titan missile sites in the US, which albeit more powerful and capable of a greater range, are roughly from the same era (see this post).

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

To get near the silos or get access to the museum, you need to pay a ticket and join a guided tour. The visit includes a tour of the Cold War Museum, which has been prepared inside the rooms of the former control center. The tour will start from the visitor center, a new modern building. You will soon go through a specimen of the original fences which ran around the ‘Dvina’ complex, and which included barbed wire and high-voltage electrified lines. Close by, you can find traces of original unarmored constructions, likely service buildings. The missile site was operated by more than 300 troops stationing in a number of smaller centers in the area around the complex.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

The guide will lead you along a walk around the surface part of the complex, where you can see the construction of the caps from very close. The metal part is very rusty, but the concrete cover has been refurbished and looks like new – a pretty unusual sight, for connoisseurs of Soviet military relics!

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

Access to the underground missile service and control center is via a small metal door, right in the middle of the square formed by the four silos.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

A few rooms in the control center today host the exhibitions of the Cold War Museum. A room displays a quick time-line of the Cold War, since the end of WWII to the end of the USSR. In the adjoining rooms you can find propaganda items

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

Another room is about defense against nuclear threat. This is interesting, with many artifacts like dosimeters and medical tools, plus easily readable instructions of ‘dos and don’ts’ in case of nuclear attack.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

Another room is about the evolution of weapons over the Cold War decades, with original material from the time, including heavier tactical weapons.

The exhibition is modern, small but not superficial, and may appeal to any public, including children. Besides the exhibits, you can appreciate the relatively small size of all rooms and connecting corridors in the former control center.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

As you are driven next to the missile operation part, you can find a scale model of the ‘Dvina’ complex and a cut-out of a R-12U silo, together with a map of the relatively few missile sites in Lithuania – from the map, it can be argued that, for some reason, many more sites were prepared in nearby Latvia.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

Resting quarters for the troops and a communication station with original electronic gear have been reconstructed based on original footage and pics. Communication with the military headquarters was clearly an essential task – it was the only way an order to launch could be issued – and the serviceman on duty was responsible for assuring a permanent link with the chain of command. In other words, he was instructed not to leave his headphones under any circumstances, during a several hours-long shift!

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

On the sides of the corridors you can see holes for the extensive network of cables and pipes. Further on, you meet the most ‘hardware’ part of the exhibition. First, the original diesel-fueled power generator has been refurbished and is standing in its original room. The underground complex was designed not only to withstand a nuclear blast, but also to provide shelter for all servicemen for several days following an attack. This meant air filters, food, water, technical supplies and of course electrical power, were all essential assets. Oil for the generator was stored in a container in an adjoining room.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

Finally, you get access to one of the four silos. You need to go through a tight door opened on the wall of the concrete structure of the control center. Writings in Cyrillic can be spotted on the walls in this area. From there, you will see the cylindrical shape of the metal structure of the silo from the side. This metal canister is really big, the ‘Dvina’ silos featured a much greater diameter than the SS-4 missile they were built for. This was somewhat different from their US counterpart (see this post), where the missile diameter fits the size of the silo without much margin.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

You can get access to the silo via the original hatch, cut in the metal wall close to the rim on top of the silo, just beneath the external cap. Going through this hatch is incredibly difficult – it is extremely narrow, much longer than the size of a human step, and tilted upwards! It is hard to understand why the Soviets built it in a size so small – this applies to the control center too, for all corridors are really narrow and the ceiling in the rooms is so low you may easily need to bend forward! For those who don’t want to try the original entry to the silo, there is now a non-original door cut in the side of the canister.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War

The inside of the silo can be observed from an original service deck, immediately under the external cover. From here you can clearly appreciate the size of the construction – the missile was more than 70 ft long, and sat here in a vertical position. The SS-4 was among the first missiles to make use of a storable liquid propellant, which allowed it to stay in almost-launch-ready conditions for a prolonged time, if resting in a silo. Nonetheless, the time for opening the armored caps was about 30 minutes, which meant this was not exactly quick to launch. The understructure of the armored caps can be clearly appreciated from inside the silo.

Photographs Before Restoration Works – Ghost Base

When I visited this site for the first time in 2009, it was open only by appointment. Unfortunately, I had only a compact camera at the time, and the very low light inside plus a rainy day outside, meant I could take only a few acceptable pictures.

However, they provide an idea of the state of the ‘Dvina’ complex before it was decided to reconfigure it as a museum.

As you can see, the armored silo caps were in a worse shape than today, yet not heavily damaged. The barbed wire fence around the four silos was probably original Soviet.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War Old Before Restoration

Inside, the control rooms were basically empty, except for some communist emblems and flags. Green wall paint and Cyrillic writings could be found even at the time, so what you see today is likely original. The generator, whilst in bad shape, was there.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War Old Before Restoration

The silo could be accessed only via the original hatch, and except for the partial darkness, its appearance is similar today.

Dvina Plokstine SS-4 Sandal Soviet Missile Base Lithuania Cold War Old Before Restoration

It is out of doubt that the ‘Soviet ghost aura’ of the base was somewhat lost in the restoration process, yet credit must be given to the effort of the local government in preserving a rare and relevant trace of military history through an expensive restoration process.

Getting there and moving around

The Cold War Museum (Šaltojo karo muziejus in the local idiom) is located in the Zemaitija National Park, northwestern Lithuania, east of lake Plateliai. Access is via the road 2302. The place is totally accessible and well advertised locally. Visiting the outside of the armored caps and inside is possible only with a guided tour, offered in many languages including English, and lasting about 50 minutes. No fee is required for climbing on top of the observation deck. Full information through the official website here.

Soviet SS-12 Scaleboard Nuclear Missiles in the GDR

January 13, 2019February 16, 2021 CarloR2 Comments

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A little known fragment of Cold War history concerns the deployment of ballistic missiles by the Soviet Union outside of its national borders. Considering the case of the GDR, aka DDR in German language, during the Cold War the westernmost communist dictatorship in Europe, this happened in several instances.

History – in brief

Two such episodes took place in the 1950s and early 1960s with strategic missiles – Shyster and Sandal – in the area of Fürstenberg and Vogelsang, located one hour north of Berlin by car (see this post), in the territory of the GDR. This deployments lasted only briefly, cause strategic missiles of much longer range were developed soon, allowing targeting western Europe and the US from within the USSR.

Since then, a nuclear striking force was allegedly present over the territory of the GDR at all times, as testified by a number of now abandoned nuclear warhead bunkers built on the premises of major Soviet airbases (see for instance this post, and links therein). This force was mainly based on tactical warheads intended to be launched from aircraft.

From the 1960s to the early 1980s the USSR deployed also SCUD-A and SCUD-B short-range nuclear missile systems over the territory of some Soviet-controlled countries. This mobile-launched light weapons were stationed in the GDR in Königsbruck, Bischofswerda and Meissen, close to the border with Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as around Wünsdorf, were the high command of the Soviet forces in Germany was located (see this post). The improved SS-21 Scarab was added to the arsenal in Königsbruck in 1981, with a range similar to that of the SCUD systems.

Nuclear missiles appeared again in the GDR towards the end of the Cold War, in the years between 1984 and 1988. This time the Soviets used intermediate-range theater missiles, in the form of the SS-12 Scaleboard, a 500 kilotons, single-warhead tactical system, with a range of 500 miles and launched directly from a mobile launcher. The reason for this deployment was a kind of retaliation following the choice of the Reagan administration, together with some European NATO Countries including West Germany, Italy and Britain, to deploy intermediate-range missiles provided by the US in Western Europe.

This move by the western allies was part of the complicated and lengthy negotiations which would culminate in the INF treaty in late 1987, between the US and the USSR. In the end, this agreement led to a bilateral dismantlement of intermediate-range nuclear forces (‘INF’), including both the American Pershing II and the Soviet Scaleboard.

Talks aiming at counterbalancing the Soviet nuclear deterrent in Europe represented by the SS-20 Pioneer mobile-launched missiles, with a range of more than 3,000 miles, had been started in the closing phase of the Carter administration, with the USSR still led by Brezhnev. The goal of the operation from a western standpoint was the deactivation of this missile by the Soviets. The deployment of a huge force of hundreds of Pershing II tactical ballistic missiles and Gryphon cruise missiles by the US, ordered in 1983 by the Reagan administration in agreement with some European Countries, should stand as a precaution in case the desired deactivation of the SS-20 would not be obtained (see also this post). The NATO move was perhaps not interpreted as desired, and in response the USSR deployed the Scaleboard in the GDR, close to the border with the West in 1984, putting a halt to the talks.

Following the change in the leadership of the USSR, the INF treaty was later signed in 1987 by President Reagan and Gorbachev. The involved missiles deployed by both the US and the USSR, and not limited to the Gryphon, Pershing II and Scaleboard, were soon withdrawn starting in 1988. They were later decommissioned and physically destroyed.

Sights

Today, a few relics of this late episodes of the Cold War can be found in the former German Democratic Republic. The quick deployment of the Scaleboard meant that an existing Soviet missile brigade (119th) was relocated in mid-1984 from Gombori, in the Soviet Republic of Georgia, to locations in the GDR, namely Königsbruck and Bischofswerda near Dresden, and Warenshof and Wokuhl in Mecklenburg. Thanks to the improved mobility of the Scaleboard system, launched from mobile platforms, not much hardware was necessary for storing and operating the missile. Light shelters were quickly built to store the nuclear warheads and the missiles. These were connected by a network of short service roads made with prefabricated concrete slabs.

Following the withdrawal of the missiles, and later of all Soviet troops from the former GDR, these missile sites were demolished or invaded by nature. Apparently, nothing has survived in Königsbruck and in the bases in Mecklenburg, whereas in Bischofswerda significant remains are to be found, albeit not publicized at all, with a short walk in the trees.

This post provides a map and a few pictures to reach the former Bischofswerda missile base. Photographs were taken in late summer 2018.

Map

The following map highlights the location of the bunkers and the access points to the Bischofswerda site. During my visit I tried three accesses by car, and the northern access road – access point 1 on the map – is the only one where I could find a (small) parking area. The area is today in a forest, and there you cannot get to the bunkers with a car – prohibition signs can be found close to all three pinpointed access points. Some walking will be needed, but the area is nice and you are likely to see some wildlife – that was my case!

I noticed that the Ulmon map on my iPhone had the bunkers accurately pinpointed. In any case, a GPS and an electronic non-satellite map is strongly recommended, for the site is shrouded by high-grown vegetation, and barely visible on a satellite photograph.

Please note that the POIs related to the missile bunkers on the map above have been placed by hand, and may be not very accurate. I noticed the Google base map does not show all the service roads connecting the bunkers. These roads are not maintained any more for vehicles, but they can still be used by hikers. Anyway, I tried to reconstruct the basic network with green lines – please zoom in to see them.

Bischofswerda SS-12 Scaleboard Missile Bunkers

Accessing the site from the northernmost entry point (access point 1 on the map), you will soon meet a former service/administration building for the troops, in pure Soviet style from the Eighties – see the terminal passenger in Sperenberg here, from the same years. It was built in 1983, and today it is used in the warm season as a service building for boy scouts and other forest-related activities. A placard quickly recalls its history. The Soviets (then Russians) left the place in 1993, and the barracks originally built in the area for servicemen stationed there were completely demolished soon after.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

From the service building, the area of the missile shelters can be reached with a quick walk along a broad and almost flat road – you might easily drive to the place, if only it was not forbidden.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

The bunkers are grouped around a small square area with concrete slabs on the ground. Despite the short distance from the square to the shelters, these are totally unapparent, and you may have a hard time getting closer to them if you do not have a GPS and some electronic map. Zoom in on the map above for some basic directions concerning this part of the missile site.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

While they have not been demolished, all bunkers are abandoned with only one exception, and they are effectively hidden by wild vegetation.

There are bunkers of three types. The majority are hangars for storage of the missiles. There were four launchers with two missiles each, totaling eight missiles on the Bischofswerda site. The nuclear warheads were stored separately from the missiles, and quickly installed only in case an order to attack was issued. Bunker N on the map is the former storage for the nuclear warheads. Access is not possible due to the wild vegetation and the partial sealing of the sliding door with a pile of land. Yet the distinctive polygon-shaped metal access door can still be seen, different from that of all other bunkers.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

The storage bunker A can be neared more easily. You can notice the totally different construction with respect to the nuclear warhead bunker N. The door of this bunker is sealed too.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

Between bunker A and B there are traces of a construction, possibly another bunker, today completely interred.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

The missile bunker B is open, and used as a storage for wood logs. There are also parts of the original ventilation system. The construction components of the shelter are similar to those you can find in other Soviet missile launch bases (see for instance this post). Yet the size of the bunker is rather small compared to similar facilities built for strategic missiles. This highlights the reduced cost of the preparation of a theater missile launch facility, with respect to its strategic missile counterparts.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

On the far end of the complex (item Z on the map), you can find another bunker, at a glance similar to the other missile shelters. It was opened when I visited, and as you see from the pics there is an intermediate frame, dividing the hangar in two parts, connected by a passage. Considering the position and structure, I guess this was a command bunker, similar to those you see in other Soviet missile bases (like again this). There is a placard remembering the deployment of the Scaleboard system in this base, and inside somebody recently put a photograph of two former high-ranking staff from the US and Soviet Armies stationed in Germany at the time of the deployment, shaking hands in front of this very bunker. The photo was taken years after the decommissioning of the site.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

Two other missile shelters, C and D on the map, close the tour. One of them is open, the other is sealed and barely reachable due to vegetation.

Soviet Missile Base SS-12 Scaleboard Germany Bischofswerda

Special Feature – 119th Missile Brigade barracks in Gombori, Georgia

As mentioned above, the Soviet 119th Missile Brigade was tasked with running the theater missile installations hastily prepared in locations in Germany. To this purpose, the 119th was relocated in May 1984 from Gombori, Georgia, then a Soviet Socialist Republic in the realm of the USSR. It left back to Gombori at the end of the German deployment in March 1988. By that time, it converted to another missile platform, following the coincidental phase-out of the SS-12. For the time of the ‘German leave’, the 119th was under the responsibility of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, headquartered in Wünsdorf (see this post).

In the following pictures, taken on another trip (2019), you can see the abandoned barracks of the 119th in Gombori. This site was code-named ‘Tbilisi Army Barracks Gombori AL 12’ by the US, due to the proximity with the Georgian capital city, Tbilisi.

Gombori Georgia Abandoned Soviet Base Headquarters SCUD Missiles Eastern Germany

The 119th Missile Brigade moved away from Georgia after the USSR broke apart. It relocated to Elanskiy, Russia.

Getting there and moving around

As already pointed out, getting close to the site is possible by car, but touring the place will require a walk of roughly 1.5-2. I suggest leaving the car at access point 1 on the map. The site missile is not maintained except for the former service building, where you can find picnic tables and related facilities. The building was closed for the season already at the beginning of September, but the area around the building is not abandoned. The former service roads in the trees are maintained as well.

On the other hand, the area of the bunkers is basically abandoned, except for the Z bunker on the map, which is not maintained, but bears a placard on the front façade. Walking around does not pose any particular difficulty, but you should go prepared to face nettles, brambles and wild vegetation around the bunkers. Carefully watch your step, for there are open manholes scattered on the ground, probably part of the original underground electric supply system.

Visiting may take a bit more than 1 hour for the interested subject – something more if you want to take good pictures. A tripod is strongly advised also for external photographs, cause the trees effectively stop sunlight, so the area is mainly dark.

Soviet Bases and Bunkers in Southwest Poland

September 8, 2018December 27, 2020 CarloR2 Comments

Similarly to other sovereign Countries in the Warsaw Pact, post-WWII Poland had to host Soviet troops on its territory. These often lived in segregated towns built anew close to larger airbases and tank firing ranges.

Such installations flourished in many European satellites of the USSR especially at the beginning of the Cold War, as a result of several factors. On one hand, the political situation was still rather unstable especially in recently occupied Countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, so a military presence was deemed necessary by the Soviets for keeping the status quo. Furthermore, in the early Fifties, Stalin was allegedly programming a final blow on war-battered western Europe to place the entire continent under communist rule, gaining direct and year-round access to the non-freezing Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, the performance of early jet military aircraft, and somewhat later of early missiles, was still rather limited especially in terms of range, and called for the setup of outposts in the peripheral regions of the Soviet-controlled zone to allow planning serious military operations beyond the border.

In the final years of the Soviet Union, communism began to rapidly retreat from central Europe, as more and more nations profited from the internal problems of the USSR and rebelled against dictatorship, opting for democracy. Troops from the USSR were ordered back to their mother country. The great majority of the military assets were taken back to Russia, including not only weapons, aircraft, tanks, trucks and anything with an engine, but also plants, pipelines, antennas, TVs, refrigerators, etc. from virtually all military bases and Soviet villages nearby.

What stood as a tangible trace of the Soviet presence were all major infrastructures – airbases, missile launch pads, bunkers, deposits, railway stations, barracks,… – and housing for troops and their families.

As a quick glimpse into what can be found today, this chapter covers a small area to the southwest of Poland, just north of ‘pottery town’ Boleslawiec. The territory of the once prominent airbase of Szprotawa has been opened to private businesses, which now occupy concrete shelters presumably made for MiG-23, MiG-27 or Su-17. The huge runway is used for test driving and related activities. Even the nuclear Bazalt-type warhead storage has been partly taken over by a local company. Yet a good part of the runway, many aircraft shelters and the reinforced part of the warhead storage make for an impressive and evocative sight.

Fifteen minutes south from Szprotawa, the former military base of Pstraze used to be a focal point of near-border military activities, carried out within an extensive shooting ground nearby. Until recently, substantial traces of a secluded Soviet military town could be found in the trees. Despite the generally poor condition of the barracks and technical buildings, and demolition work going around on the former premises of the base, from portraits taken in 2018 you can still get a good idea of how seriously the USSR invested in these outposts on foreign territory, by just looking at the quantity and size of the existing buildings. On a later visit (2020), almost everything had been wiped out in Pstraze, leaving behind a triple of Granit-type bunkers, still very interesting to visit, and much concrete debris.

For more Soviet sites in Poland you may also check this post.

Photographs of this chapter come from two short-stays in the area, in early September 2018 and August 2020. I acquired a good deal of information from a friend in Poland, who is also the owner of this interesting channel on YouTube.

Navigate this post – click on links to scroll

Szprotawa/Wiechlice Nuclear Warhead Bunker
Szprotawa/Wiechlice Airbase
Pstraze Formere Soviet Military Village and Bunkers

Sights

Szprotawa/Wiechlice Nuclear Warhead Bunker

The plan of the airbase in Szprotawa is very similar to the one of Brand in the former German Democratic Republic, less than two hours to the northwest of this site in Poland (see this chapter). The orientation of the runway is similar, there are aircraft shelters to the south, and about .75 miles southeast of the airport it is possible to find a major storage area, which includes a bunker for atomic warheads. The connection road is today publicly accessible, and the typical Soviet concrete slabs are holding on in their place still today, allowing a convenient access by car.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

The area of the nuclear storage was heavily guarded, and much of the original buildings and fence, including the original gates, is still in place. The reason for that is a private business operating these days in the area. This is both good an bad, for most buildings are reasonably well preserved – i.e. in better condition than in similar, but totally abandoned sites – but they are surrounded by deposits of coal, heavy mechanical components and industry materials and machinery.

Above all, you cannot access the place freely, for there are trucks going in and out and workers moving around.

From the access road you go through a first gate with red stars, which is apparently blocked open. Between this area and the deposit/inner fenced area, there are some buildings, which include a (possibly) former housing block and a smaller technical building with a unique Soviet-themed fresco in a very good state of conservation. Today, most buildings around this apron appear unused.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

Close by the green gate giving access to the secured part of the installation, there are a small building where somebody is still living today. The gate looks original from the Cold War era. The inhabited building is at least partly original, bearing writings in Cyrillic on the front wall. A red-star-shaped flag pedestal and another statue pedestal with writings in Cyrillic can be found on the two sides of the gate.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

From the gate and along the perimeter of the high security part you can still spot the original fence – the usual concrete posts with lines of barbed wire, typical to Soviet military installations.

The fenced area is very large, comparatively more extensive than in Brand and other places where nuclear warheads used to be stored. There are here several depots for trucks, numbered, with wooden gates, still today bearing extensive markings in Russian language.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

The centerpiece of the area is of course the nuclear warhead bunker. Located in the eastern part of the fenced area, this is similar to those you can find for instance in other Soviet airbases like Brand, Finsterwalde (see this chapter) and Rechlin/Lärz (see this chapter), in the former German Democratic Republic. A huge difference is that this nuclear bunker has been left open!

Ahead of the entrance you can find a preserved concrete structure, where a crane for loading/unloading operations used to be mounted. This structure is taller than the front facade of the bunker. A unique feature here are the trees painted on the pillars of this structure, which considering the today fading colors, appear to be original from Soviet times.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

The facade of the bunker features a massive curved double door. Inside there are warning signs in Russian. The door gives access to a wide corridor leading through the bunker to the storage chamber.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

The corridor could be split in two sections by an impressive square tight door, which retracted to the left hand side of the corridor when open. This is how you can see it today. I guess this tight door was installed to withstand a nuclear attack to the site. As a matter of fact, nuclear deposits and facilities were among the top targets of the military forces of both opponents during the Cold War.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

To the right hand side of the corridor, a smaller tight door gives access to a narrow pedestrian corridor, leading out of the bunker through a small door on the facade. Unfortunately, this door is shut today, and blocked by a pile of wood from the outside.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

After passing the big tight door, you can spot some smaller doors leading to service rooms on both sides of the corridor. There is also a passage leading to a toilet. The latter looks pretty fine, apart from some dust from age – and from the coal works nearby. Strangely enough, there are four taps of different size by the sink.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

A metallic stair to the left side of the main corridor leads to the upper floor. Here you can find another narrow corridor, leading to a series of small service rooms closed by normal wooden doors. There are signs telling what you should wear when accessing some of these doors, like gas masks, gloves, boots – or maybe what gear you could find there. I guess these rooms were connected somehow with the ventilation system, cause big pipes can be seen running near the ceiling here.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

Still upstairs, walking towards the facade of the bunker you find a tight door giving access to the ventilation system. This appears quite complicated, with several smaller tight doors, but it is arguable that ventilation had to be a major concern in case of a nuclear attack to the deposit and also for storing high-tech gear in the best possible conditions. Original air filters are still in place, but the compressors and fans have been taken away. Sunlight comes in through the round manhole you see on the front facade of the bunker.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

Proceeding downstairs towards the back-end of the bunker you find a large hall with a monster double door totally similar to the external door of the bunker. Also here, warning signs in Cyrillic are written on the inside of the door. Look at the cap of my 10-22 wide lens for a size comparison!

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

The storage room is very large and empty. There are two long ventilation pipes in the upper corners, going all the way down to the far extremity of the room. Two small doors can be found in the room on the same side of the entry double door. They give access to two smaller rooms, where there used to be engines to open and close the extra-heavy halves of the double door. There is also trace of a lighting system, but this has been likely salvaged and used somewhere else – this is typical to most of the wiring and electric plants in former USSR installations.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

Back to the entrance, you can spot a loading/unloading platform for trucks totally similar to Finsterwalde and Rechlin/Lärz.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase Nuclear Bunker

You may get a further view of the inside of the bunker through this video from the YouTube channel of a friend, who provided much of the info to reach the site.

Getting there and moving around

The airbase and its premises are today in the village of Szprotawa. You can reach the gate of the bunker by car. Approaching the village from the south along the roads 297 or 12, which meet just south of the village, you may then take the road called Sosnowa. It points north and straight into the base. After about .25 miles the road will turn left. Just before that, you will see a paved road taking to the right. Keep on it as it will go through the former grounds of the base, now invaded by vegetation, where you will spot old aircraft shelters. The pavement will turn into concrete slabs at some point. Follow the road until it points south. You will find the gate with red stars and a no trespassing sign just after crossing an unpaved service road. You may park on the roadside and get past the gate by walk to avoid misunderstandings.

As pointed out, the area is privately owned and not open to the public. You need to get permission to step inside, and it might not be granted. You are likely to meet workers and watchdogs who will bark at you. I gesticulated in front of the workers, showed my camera and photographic gear, and they appeared not to care much about me taking pictures around. I spent a pretty long time undisturbed in the bunker, which is basically unused by the local business, but decided not to stimulate any discussion by taking too many pictures of the area ahead of it, which is actively used.

Szprotawa/Wiechlice Airbase

The fact that the airbase in Szprotawa – also known as Wiechlice – was supplied with a warhead bunker for tactical nuclear weapons tells much about its relevance at the time. Today, the territory of the base has been divided and partly sold to private businesses.

On one side, this has implied severe alterations to the original plan, with taxiways made unrecognizable, demolished or highly modified buildings, and so on. On the pros side, the huge runway can be freely accessed, and except for the extremities, it is still in relatively good shape, with the original centerline and other markings still visible.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

The base offers also some classic Soviet Type B hangars, typical to the mid-Sixties to mid-Seventies period. The giant reinforced concrete doors have been taken away. On the inside walls, writing in Cyrillic is abundant.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

On the day of my visit there, a local ‘war race’ (official site) – a kind of gymkhana – was taking place, making use of the post-apocalyptic scenario of the deserted base to setup a great running circuit – much fun!

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase War Race

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

A tank was performing some acrobatics for the crowds on a terminal part of the former runway – a very nice and unusual sight!

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

The site is completed by an extensive network of preserved service ways and some smaller buildings, generally not in a good shape.

Szprotawa Wiechlice Soviet Airbase

Getting there and moving around

Similarly to the approach to the atomic bunker, you might take on the road called Sosnowa from road 297 or 12. The road points into the base. At the end of the road, turn right and you will point directly to the runway. You will see several aircraft shelters in this area. You can park where you like, or you can reach the runway and move freely on it.

Pstraze Former Soviet Military Village and Bunkers

In its history the base of Pstraze hosted tank regiments, which would train on the extensive proving grounds nearby. A large secluded town used to be located just out of the fence, for civilian servicemen and for the families of Soviet staff.

Accessing the site from the south you are likely to meet what remains of the extensive housing, today completely demolished. Notwithstanding the rather depressing appearance of this area, this is a real mine of memorabilia and collectibles, in the form of garments – buckles, buttons, shoes,… – and items of everyday use – mugs, dishes, pharmaceuticals, canned food,… This is probably a result of the content of many apartments having been dumped in the area. I left with a shopping bag full of stuff, from a couple of gas masks to a metal buckle with hammer and sickle, a doll, Russian canned meat, and more!

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

Moving north from this area, you meet scant remains of the original fence, telling you are entering the former military part of the site. There are a pretty large road and even a railway, both still serviceable today, even though not much used.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

The following pictures are from a visit in 2018 – unfortunately, the buildings in this site have all basically disappeared as of summer 2020, when I visited for a second time to check out the bunkers and monuments, still there at that date (see later).

The first buildings were to be found north of the railway line, shrouded in the trees. In the southeastern corner a number of concrete platforms which might have been the foundations of soft, wooden buildings could be seen first. From there, pointing to the center of the former base you might spot a quantity of two/three-levels buildings, designed around the very same architecture. There used to be really many, and aligned along the service roads of the base, they form the majority of the ensemble.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

Some different buildings in the military town could be found in the center. First and foremost, a movie theater.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

The front part with the main entrance and a foyer had already collapsed entirely in 2018, but the theater was still in place at that time. The seats were gone, but the structure was sizable, telling about the great number of people that composed the staff of the base in the days of operation.

On the frame of the ceiling a series of names of locations were probably painted by the troops stationed here, or somebody who was tasked with maintenance works at some point.

A second interesting building could be found cross the street with respect to the movie theater. It is not very clear what its original function was, possibly a mall. It featured four halls at the corners, accessible with small flights of stairs from the outside, and larger halls inside. It had just one level, and a pretty broad extension.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

This is what remained of this building in 2020.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

Another interesting building could be found further west, towards the limit of the military town. It featured a gracious cantilever roof above the entrance, albeit in a pretty bad shape. Inside, it was composed of an immense hall, but maybe there used to be dividing frames and walls. Traces of a reception desk suggest some form of service – pool, gym, spa? – was provided here, and the same is true for the halls to the back, featuring tiled floors and walls.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

Further interesting mystery buildings could be found on the northern limit of the site. There was a large, two-levels square building with an inner courtyard, somewhat elevated with respect to the surrounding area. Ahead of the entrance there was a pavement decoration with a wind rose. The facade was sober but somewhat more modern than all the other buildings. A command building, or a school maybe? There was also a smaller building on top of a similar low hill cross the street, but the roof had totally collapsed already in 2018.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

There were also traces of a relax area with benches. A statue of Lenin would just complete the setting – possibly there was one, or some monuments, but nothing remains today here.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

All in all, the place was really impressive for its extensive size and the unreal quietness and ‘Soviet ghost aura’ pervading the area…

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base

It should be said that with respect to other bases of the same type, the buildings here appeared really rotting and unsafe already in 2018. Most of the roofs had collapsed or had been willingly demolished, so the walls were exposed to the weather. Not many reasons remain to check out this area, except for chance is that you will leave with some CCCP-marked souvenir!

More interesting are a couple of monuments to be found scattered on the territory of the base, and as of 2020 somewhat unexpectedly spared despite demolition works in full swing.

The first is located on a crossing between two major unpaved roads of the base. It is made of three large slabs of concrete. The center one is clearly celebrating an anniversary from the closing stages or the end of WWII, when this area fell under control by the Soviets.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Monument

The one to the left is fading, and the iconography is not very clear.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Monument

It is also interesting that both this and the center panels appear to have been updated over time – there are multiple layers of paint in some spots, and as the most recent are fading, the older ones are surfacing, creating a somewhat blurred image, difficult to interpret.

The right panel is basically a big head of Lenin, with beams coming out of it. There is also a fading inscription to one side. From b/w photographs, it can be perceived more clearly that face traits were once there, making the portrait somewhat more elaborated.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Monument

The second monument is much smaller and secluded. It is basically a commemoration slab concerning the soviet war effort in the Great Patriotic War.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Monument

Unfortunately, side decoration is likely missing, as well as part of the inscription.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Monument

Possibly the only reason to visit the place today is the part to the northern end of the town. There you can find (in 2020) a well preserved set of Granit-type bunkers. This type of bunkers was simple, basically made of an interred straight tunnel with two gates to the opposite entrances. They were built for many different uses, ranging from soft shelter of war material (like assembled missiles) to protected command posts. Granit bunkers appeared relatively late in the Cold War years (late 1970s), and are typical to several bases in the Eastern bloc (see for instance here or here for more examples).

A peculiarity of Pstraze is the fact that not just one, but three Granit bunkers were built in a very small area, with access well below ground level, and with two big access ramps for trucks each, reaching the two opposite ends of each bunker.

Here are pictures from the easternmost. Trees were painted on the concrete lids to the side of the entrances for deception. Access for trucks is really steep, but the ramps are still today in a relatively good shape.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

To the far end of this bunker the lids have been partly torn. The entries to the ramps are guarded by turrets.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

The second bunker is similar in construction to the first.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

The last Granit is more strange. The front and back entries have been deeply modified at some point in history, closing them with a kind of concrete gate, strongly reducing the size of the entrance. This might have been a command post. Traces of a suspended canopy can be found on the access ramps for trucks.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

Looking inside, you may notice the same trees painted on the original side lids. This further testifies the external concrete structures came at a later stage.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

Leaving this area and going back to the military village, you may notice a fence existed once dividing the two sectors, as typical in most soviet installations.

Trzebien Pstraze Abandoned Soviet Base Bunker Granit

Getting there and moving around

I had not the time to explore the access points thoroughly, but I found a fairly accessible way in driving close to the ghost base from the road 297 in Stara Oleszna. The main obstacle between the road 297 to the base is river Bobr, which is not just a small creek, and can be passed only with a bridge. There is one for light vehicles in Stara Oleszna. It is well maintained, cause there are people living on the other bank of the river who rely on it. Keep on the road leaving the bridge to the west. After about .4 miles you will come to a T-shaped crossing, where you need to take to the north. There are warning signs, and the road turns unpaved. After about .15 miles you will find a prohibition sign for cars. You may leave your car there and continue by foot.

From this direction you will meet first demolished housing on your left, then you will cross the railway and main service road (paved). From there you can start your exploration. Unfortunately, as of 2020 there is not much left to see of the village, except the two monuments. Further north, you can find the Granit bunkers, which may make for an interesting sight especially for more military-minded subjects.

Wünsdorf – Nazi/Soviet Supreme Military Command

April 30, 2017April 5, 2022 CarloR2 Comments

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For war historians and urban explorers Wünsdorf does not need any further presentation – a central place in the military history of the 20th century, famous for the many abandoned military buildings, from stately headquarters to interred bunkers. The name of this small town appears even in the very modern and interesting Military Museum of Dresden, where it is easy to find an original sign – in double alphabet – from the time when Wünsdorf hosted the Soviet military headquarters in the communist German Democratic Republic.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Sign

This report is based on photographs I took in spring 2017 in Zossen and Wünsdorf during a customized visit to the place I arranged with a local guide. For visiting information scroll down to the bottom of the page.

History – in brief

The small town of Wünsdorf, about 15 miles south of Berlin, has a serious military tradition, dating back at least to the beginning of the 20th century. At that time a large military complex with many barracks was set up by the order of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II – a central player in WWI – in the neighbor town of Zossen.

To this ‘Belle Époque’ era belongs part of the housing still in place today, as well as some of the largest and most aesthetically pleasant buildings in town. Among them, a former training camp for athletes of the army, and some big command buildings.

Following the dawn of the Nazi era, the place gained further relevance, with the institution of the German Supreme Command of the Armed Forces, also known as ‘Oberkommando der Wehrmacht’, or ‘OKW’ in brief. This was presided by general Wilhelm Keitel for all the duration of WWII, and represented the ‘top of the pyramid’ in terms of military decisions, as general Keitel reported directly to Hitler.

The staff of the OKW could be accommodated in purpose-built bunkers here, designed to withstand severe air bombing action, as well as to be disguised as normal country houses from above. These were known as the ‘Maybach bunkers’.

Besides bunkers for housing military personnel, a large communication bunker, known as ‘Zeppelin bunker’, was built to the purpose of connecting the brain of all military operations with the various divisions scattered over Europe and fighting on more war fronts.

When WWII finally came to an end, the Soviets captured the region, and that was the onset of a full new chapter in the history of the town. The reference name ‘Zossen’ was dropped in favor of ‘Wünsdorf’. The area of the two villages was totally cut-off by a 17 km wall, guarded with a top security level. Inside, housing for around 40,000 staff was prepared in subsequent stages, adding many purely Soviet-style residential buildings to what was still in place from before and during the Nazi era.

The supreme command of all Soviet forces in the occupied territory of Germany – to become the German Democratic Republic, or ‘GDR’, in 1949 – was installed here. All four branches of the Soviet armed forces had their respective headquarters in a corresponding sector of the ‘prohibited citadel’, with inner walls dividing the four areas. These headquarters controlled more than 200,000 troops stationed in the GDR until the early Nineties.

The Soviets tried to blow up the Maybach bunkers, with some success, and also the Zeppelin bunker, with no success. They developed it into an nuclear-proof installation, and added two further bunkers, for controlling military operations – including all air patrolling ones – in real time over the territory of the GDR, and along the crucial border with the Federal Republic and the Western world. Similarly to WWII, once again Wünsdorf was the main stage of crucial decisions for the full span of the Cold War.

The year 1989 marked the beginning of the end for this military town, with the reunification of the GDR with the Federal Republic and the end of the Cold War. All Soviet forces stationed in Germany – about 500,000 people, including troops and their families -, soon to become Russian forces in 1993 with the collapse of the communist regime in the USSR, began a well-coordinated retreat back to their mother Country, leaving Wünsdorf in September 1994.

Since then, the huge housing is largely uninhabited – the current population having dropped to about 4,000 – and the stately buildings built by the order of the Kaiser are deserted. Nonetheless, differently from other former military bases left to nature or converted into something else, the regional government of Brandenburg has formally taken over the property, which is not totally abandoned, nor in an irreversible state of disrepair, with the aim of selling it or transforming it into a museum.

Up to now, the place is still in the hands of the regional government, and specialized tours can be arranged with a local society of enthusiasts.

Sights

This site is really huge, with countless remains and interesting places to see. My visit took just about 5.5 hours, I think you would really need 1 day – and possibly more – to cover all features with enough time to both learn about the history and take good pictures of everything interesting! Here I will present a mainly pictorial description of the part of the complex I had the chance to visit this time. I think another day I will need to go back and complete the visit!

You may get an impression of the town from above, from this report based on aerial pictures taken during a dedicated flight over the region.

Officers’ House

This is probably the most famous non-bunker building in the complex. It dates back to the early 20th century – the place was the headquarter of a sports training ground established by the Kaiser’s army before WWI. In the Thirties, German athletes were trained here for the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. During WWII this became a command building for the OKW, while in Soviet times it was actually transformed into a house for higher ranking staff of the supreme Soviet command, with living rooms and entertainment facilities.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The main building faces an almost square park, where a huge statue of Lenin was installed and is still standing.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

Inside the main building it is possible to find clear traces of the original ‘Belle Époque’ architecture.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The inside of the building was spoiled of all furniture – the Russians reportedly tried to sell everything to the German government when they left, but the offer gained little interest. Only little part of the furniture, clearly from the age of the Kaiser, can be still spotted. Among the highlights of the bottom floor, there are two murals, in a typically Soviet naïve style, and a sculptured wall. Somebody is trying to put together Soviet memorabilia in a small museum, but all presented stuff is not original from here.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

On the first floor, a very interesting industry-themed mural and a 20-ft long curved view of Moscow can be found in a corridor. In a completely dark room on the same floor, where once a small memorial museum about the Great Patriotic War – WWII for the Russians – was standing, the retreating Russian forces left one of the few remaining written messages, concerned with the atrocities of the Nazi regime – for the guide this was possibly a subliminal memento for the German People… In the same totally dark room it is possible to find a big, finely sculptured wall.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

To the back of the main building it is possible to find a modern addition by the Soviets, a cylindrical building once hosting a diorama of the battle of Berlin. The diorama was transferred in the village of Zhukovo, halfway between Kaluga and Moscow, in the westernmost part of Russia, when the Russians left.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

The two wings to the back of the Officers’ House host two highlights of the show. In the southern wing it is possible to find an empty swimming pool, dating from the days when the place was a sports training ground, with little changes, which include the showers and the diving board, built by the Soviets. The construction technique was very good, and the pool was operated until 1993-94 reportedly with little updates.

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

In the northern wing it is possible to find a theatre. This is a bit creepy, for it is totally dark – electric power was cut off years ago – but everything, including the curtain over the stage, is in place like a performance was about to begin! The Soviet past of the place is clear here thanks to the decoration of the medallion over the stage, resembling the monument of the Soviet Soldier in Treptower Park, Berlin. In the roomy foyer it is possible to see the numbered hangers still in place!

Wünsdorf/Zossen House of Officers

The White House

Across the road from the Officers’ House it is possible to see another early 20th century building, used as a command building by the Soviets during the Cold War, and affectionately called ‘The White House’, both for its primary role in imparting orders and for the colonnade gracing the front façade. The building is inaccessible, and still property of the regional government.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Nearby, a former house for officers dating from before WWII is now operated as a local city hall.

Today, some of the many immigrants coming from Africa to Europe are being hosted in a building close to the White House by the German Government.

Soviet Railway Station, Bread Factory and Soviet Housing

Due to its great strategic relevance in the Cold War era, the prohibited town of Wünsdorf was daily connected two-ways with Moscow. The last train to Moscow left in September 1994. The railway station of Wünsdorf-Waldstadt today operates on a local railway, with trains mainly to and from downtown Berlin. The old Soviet terminal and some warehouses nearby have been abandoned and are in a state of total disrepair.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Railway Station

Close by the station, it is possible to find an abandoned and unattractive small factory with a tall chimney. This is where literally tons of bread were produced every single day since the Nazi era and up to 1994 – reaching 25 tons per day when the place was most crowded in Soviet times. The building was considered a strategic asset by the Nazi, who built it with a 60 cm reinforced concrete roof able to withstand air bombing.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Army Quarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen Bread Factory

Whilst not very crowded, today some houses from the early days in the village of Zossen have been nicely restored to their original conditions. Unfortunately, they still share the roadside with some abandoned or not refurbished Soviet buildings, keeping the typical ‘Soviet ghost’ aura alive in the town.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Housing

Wünsdorf/Zossen Air Force Headquarters

Wünsdorf/Zossen Housing

Maybach Bunkers

Two complexes of peculiar bunkers were built in the Thirties – Maybach I and II – for housing staff of the OKW. From the distance and from above, these half-interred bunkers had the appearance of large farm houses. In reality, they were designed to be bomb-proof, and when they were blown-up by the Soviets after WWII they did not collapse completely.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Maybach German Bunker

One of the two Maybach complexes is very close to the fenced area where the Soviets had their three interred bunkers.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Bunker

Zeppelin Bunker

This communication bunker was built under the Nazi more than 60 feet deep into the terrain. It was made of layers of land and concrete, making it extremely durable and difficult to destroy. As a matter of fact, the Soviets tried to blow it up after the Potsdam conference in summer 1945, but they didn’t succeed at all. They decided to re-use it, sealing part of it to withstand a nuclear attack – including airlocks, reinforced doors, showers for decontamination, and sleeping quarters for troops trapped in by radioactive fallout. When leaving in the Nineties, Russian troops took home all technical rigs, stripping the bunker almost completely of any technical hardware.

Among the highlights in the Zeppelin bunker there are the sealed main entrance built by the Soviets and the decontamination facilities.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

Going down it is possible to appreciate the size of the German design, with tens of rooms, long and roomy corridors and staircases. A small exhibition is dedicated to communication hardware from the Nazi and Soviet times. Copies of the Nazi schemes of the communication network from here to the Eastern front allow to understand the proportions of the system.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

One of two long tunnels – the longest is about 600 ft! – was turned into a sleeping quarter for troops isolated in case of nuclear attack, and original berths are still visible today. Another corridor was so long it was used as a rifle range!

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

The bunker was powered by diesel engines – originally submarine engines under German ownership. These are gone today, but the smell of diesel fuel is still very marked in their room. It’s hard to imagine how noisy this place had to be! Some of the Soviet fuel tanks and air conditioning piping are still there, with original technical schemes.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

A lift was added by the Soviets – it’s not working any more. On the bottom level there are water pumps and other supply systems. Normally this area cannot be toured, also due to water flooding problems.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Zeppelin German Bunker

In a small wing of the bunker it is possible to see the effect of the Soviet attempt to blow-up the bunker. The dynamics of the attempt are not clear – what explosive was used and where it was positioned. A pierce in the steel/concrete armored ceiling and a cracked reinforced concrete pillar are the only visible results. The size of the crater in the ceiling suggests much explosive was used, but the damage around is fairly limited and very localized. A feature of many military buildings occupied by the Soviets, signatures and graffitis in cyrillic alphabet can be found on some concrete walls of the bunker.

Soviet Half-Interred Bunkers

Really close to the entrance of the Zeppelin bunker, it is possible to find the way into two other less visible facilities.

One of them is a small communication bunker of simple construction. This is basically straight, with a round shaped cross-section. The corridor leading to the main part of the building is rather narrow and pointing down to the underground. The main part is much roomier, with curved steel frames making the walls and ceiling. This was used also as a training facility. This bunker was totally stripped by the retreating Russian troops.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

The second bunker is much more articulated. It was codenamed ‘Nickel’, and the Soviet construction type is UK-20. This was a communication and control bunker for military operations, in particular for air operations. Even though this bunker was stripped similarly to the other two, some technical rigs and tons of paperwork can be spotted in the semi-dark environment of this installation.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Technical plants include the original water pumping system and several high voltage cabinets.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

The room where the air control center was is lighted. It is very big, and copies of the original schemes help to understand how the setup was. Everything there was taken back to Russia by retreating Russian army.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Other interesting items include propaganda posters from Soviet times – they always look very exotic!

Wünsdorf/Zossen Soviet Bunker

Garrison Museum & Red Army Museum

In the old pre-WWI stables two really unmissable small museums have been prepared. I would recommend visiting them after the site itself, to better understand the relevance and usefulness of the exhibition.

The first is centered on the history of the garrison in Zossen from the years when the barracks were built, and it documents the history of the Officers’ House and all other pre-Soviet buildings around. A focus is given also to the Nazi period, with many photographs and memorabilia. All panels are unfortunately in German only, but the pictures speak for themselves.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

The second collection is dedicated to the Soviet period. Here you can find memorabilia from all stages of the Cold War era, including both museum items already preserved by the Soviets in a museum previously existing in Berlin-Karlshorst, but also everyday items and stuff from Wünsdorf.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

Among the many panels, a small insight dedicated to the huge nuclear base in Vogelsang, covered in this other post of mine.

Wünsdorf/Zossen German and Soviet Museum

Headquarters of the Soviet Air Force

Besides the building of the society running the guided tours of the place, it is possible to find the abandoned headquarters of the Soviet Air Force. A modern statue of a pilot is standing ahead of an Asian restaurant, whereas the main building is inaccessible. A statue of Lenin – not easily visible from the street – can be found in the vegetation, ahead of the main façade. To the side of the building it is possible to find a typical Soviet memorial.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Air Force Headquarters

Much More…!

Among the other uncommon things you can find around in Wünsdorf, there are some Winkel-type air raid shelters, 19 of which were built in the Nazi period for military staff. Most of them were blown by the Soviets, and some of the 7 (?) remaining ones are preserved today.

Wünsdorf/Zossen Winkel Shelter

Visiting

As reported, this ensemble is huge and well looked after. Technically speaking, it is not abandoned – at least the most interesting parts of it. Parts – like the Officers’ House – are awaiting for somebody to own them, parts are destined to remain tourist attractions – like the bunkers and museums. For these reasons, to make your visit practical and enjoyable, and for making the best of your time, I strongly suggest contacting a guide.

Actually the local society also in charge of the nice and interesting book selling activity, for which ‘Bücherstadt Wünsdorf’ – ‘Wünsdorf the Town of Books’ – is famous, runs guided tours on a regular schedule. Full information also in English from their website here. Besides the pre-scheduled tours, some longer special-themed tours can be booked in advance. If you are visiting – like me – from abroad, then I suggest taking contact with the guide before going there.

When I visited, I arranged with the guide a ‘double-tour’ in English just for me, asking to merge two of the tours offered with pre-booking. This was not a cheap alternative – I had to pay alone the price intended for two group tours, but all in all that was worth the financial effort! – but above all I must say I regret not having had more time!

The guide is nice and extremely knowledgeable, he speaks a perfect English and Russian as well. He knows anything from the history of the place, including interesting anecdotes and technical notions. He will take you to all places of interest with a minivan, and of course he will give you all the time for taking pictures, including some with a tripod in especially dark conditions – he has two portable lights for helping in the task! So the guided tour will not be boring at all.

After that, you may like to go back to have a look to the exterior of some buildings you had not the time to check out during the guided visit.

The towns of Wünsdorf and Zossen are basically a single entity, but possibly not on your nav. In case you get confused when driving to the building where you should meet the guide, just follow the signs for the book selling activities – the building is the same.

I mentioned there is a railway station, and of course you may choose to come in by train and move by bicycle – walking would be too time consuming in my view, due to the distance between points of interests. Coming by car is also very practical if you are not moving by train on your trip, and there is room for parking almost everywhere.

Air Museums in the Former GDR

April 29, 2017July 30, 2022 CarloR2 Comments

Due to its strategic relevance to the Soviet empire in the years of the Cold War, the territory of the former German Democratic Republic, or ‘GDR’, experienced an uncommonly intense military presence, growing over the years from soon after WWII to the end of the Soviet Union and the retreat of Russian troops to their home Country.

The coexisting armies of Eastern Germany and of the Soviet Union each managed land, sea and air groups operating from the GDR. As a result, still today the countryside of the former communist-ruled part of Germany is full of airports – many of them abandoned or converted to solar powerplants – and former tank training camps.

Besides this hardware, leaving clear traces reaching to this day, the quick collapse of the Soviet system and the end of the Cold War generated an enormous quantity of military surplus at all levels in the mid-Nineties.

In particular, soon after reunification the People’s Air Force of Eastern Germany was merged with the West-German ‘Luftwaffe’, whose name was retained and which became the German Air Force still operating today. The result of the merger was not ideal from a logistic and supply chain point of view, with too many aircraft and helicopters with radically different designs – implying different spare parts, maintenance procedures, specialized training, … Consequently, all Soviet models, which had been the backbone of the East German forces, were soon stricken-off the military register, many of them going to private collections.

For this reason, you can often find former GDR aircraft in museums all over Europe. Clearly, many of them remained in the territory of their bygone mother Country, enriching local air collections and museums. This post is about four less-known gems of the kind close to Berlin and Leipzig. These photographs were taken during visits in 2017 and 2021.

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Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus
Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt
Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin
Flugwelt Altenburg/Nobitz

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus

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This collection is located on the outskirts of the town of Cottbus, easily reachable about 70 miles southeast of Berlin. The premises occupied by this mainly open-air museum are to the south of the former local airport/base which was more recently converted into another solar plant. Actually, a hangar from here dating from WWII was dismounted and relocated to the state of Virginia.

The collection here is very rich, the majority of aircraft are kept in a well-maintained, non-flying condition, with a pretty large area devoted to aircraft restoration, and a well prepared and perfectly presented inside part with memorabilia, artifacts, aircraft parts, models, … – all in all, a primary attraction of the kind, well worth visiting for any aviation enthusiasts.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

By passing the gates you will walk between a part of an Airbus A380 used for testing – a bit of an outlier for a military museum… – and an array of MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 formerly in service with the air force of the GDR.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

The display of these aircraft side by side, the MiG-21s also in multiple different variants, is very interesting for making comparisons and spot both obvious and less evident differences between these iconic Soviet models.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

A more rare, recently restored MiG-17 is proudly standing in front of the entrance to the main building of the museum.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

Other highlights of the collection include two Sukhoi Su-22 aircraft. One of them bears markings of the Luftwaffe, suggesting it was used for some time in the air force of reunified Germany. The difference in size between the two massive Sukhois and the sleek MiGs is apparent having them sitting close to each other!

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

On the grass closer to the former runway are some Soviet helicopters, including a very well-preserved Mil-24 attack helicopter, also in Luftwaffe colors.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

Close by, a couple of other MiGs in a bare metal colorway – one of them from Tschekoslowakia – can be spotted, together with some old western models, in the original colors of the Luftwaffe – these include an F-84, F-86, T-33 and a rare Italian G-91.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

Other less aggressive aircraft in the area include a Let L-200 twin-propeller aircraft possibly for training, a Yakovlev Yak-11 acrobatic aircraft and some other aircraft for training, observation or crop dusting.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

A full array of service trucks from various Soviet manufacturers are aligned in an open hangar, where a Soviet anti-aircraft SA-2 missile with its light launch gantry is also present.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

The inside collection – not the usual dirty-and-dusty collection typical of wannabe air-museums, but instead a clean and well-presented, good-level small museum in itself – shows something on the local history of the former airport, various jettisonable seats from Soviet aircraft from different times, technical schemes for maintenance and training, as well as local findings of aeronautical interest. Among the latter, some pretty rare parts of downed aircraft from WWII, both from Nazi Germany and from the Allies – including the Soviet Union.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

Also interesting was a temporary exhibition about the MiG-21 and its world-class success. The only thing I regret about the inside part is that all explanations were given in German only.

Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus – Airport Museum

Some very interesting findings on the outside include a largely complete wreck of a Focke-Wulf FW190, what appears to be a bulky Napier Sabre II 24-cylinders engine, possibly from a Hawker Tempest or typhoon, a MiG-15 awaiting restoration, plus other engines and aircraft parts.

I would recommend this place for a dedicated visit about 1,5-2 hours long, especially if you are touring the area south of Berlin, very rich in terms of recent and past military history.

Getting there

Cottbus can be reached quickly by train from Berlin, but the museum is far from the town center. Going by car is definitely more convenient, a very fast highway going to the border with Poland – a few miles away – connecting Berlin and Cottbus in about 1 hour. Contact and information from their official website (in German, but basic info on opening times and location can be obtained very easily with some Google translation). Small parking nearby.

Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

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The Luftfahrtmuseum – i.e. aviation museum – in Finowfurt has taken over a part of the former Soviet airbase of Finow, about 35 miles northeast of Berlin. Over the last two decades of the Cold War, this airbase was pretty busy with high-performance Soviet MiGs, ranging from the older MiG-21 fighter-interceptor, the ubiquitous MiG-23 fighter, the rare super-fast MiG-25 interceptor, and up to the modern MiG-29.

Finow received a plethora of aircraft shelters, including the older AU-13 for MiG-21 and -23, but also AU-16(2) and AU-16(3), the former intended for the Yak-28 and MiG-25, the latter for the MiG-29. The picture below portray the relatively rare AU-16(2), with its non-circular vault, in the still-active part of the airport in Finowfurt, today a general aviation field.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

The museum, encompassing the northwestern corner of the former military premises, offers the chance to walk close and inside AU-13 shelters, with their heavy reinforced doors, self-actuated by means of motors mounted close to their own bodies, and moving on a rail.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Parked ahead of a group of such shelters, a MiG-21 and a MiG-23 make for a scenario closely resembling the days of operation of this former Soviet installation. The shelters are interspersed with former technical gear from the base, including searchlights of evident Soviet make – see the writings in Cyrillic.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

A spherical dome on top of one of the shelters may have been the case for a rotating aerial.

An Ilyushin Il-14 old two-engined transport and a Yakovlev Yak-28 bomber sit on the opposite sides of a former taxiway, typically built with large concrete slabs.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

To the far end of the museum area, a low building, possibly a former canteen or technical facility, hosts a nice collection of artifacts, which tell much about the history of Finow over the years. For instance, during the Third Reich, this airbase was involved in testing the Allied aircraft landed in emergency on German territory – models of B-17 and B-24 in the unusual colors of the Luftwaffe witness this episode.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Of course, most of the material on display is from Soviet times. An original schematic of the base, and old signs in Russian – both propaganda posters and more technical explanations – are included in this collection.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Also a few naive paintings from Soviet times have been preserved.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

An interesting collection of Soviet technical gear includes aircraft cameras for optical imagery, helmets, flying suits, as well as weapons partly dismantled possibly for instructional purposes.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Ahead of the small museum building, a statue of Lenin can be found, possibly relocated from another spot of the former Soviet base.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

On a spot nearby, anti-aircraft and theater missiles can be found together with ranging aerials – as well as an ubiquitous Antonov An-2 transport biplane.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

An imposing sight in the museum is a freshly refurbished Tupolev Tu-134, in the colors of the East German flag-carrier Interflug. It was not the case on the day of my visit, but it is likely the aircraft can be boarded on some occasions. Nearby, also a large Mil helicopter – a former transport – can be found ahead of yet another aircraft shelter.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

On display in the latter are some aircraft jet engines, as well as some communications rigs, and some explanatory panels, likely from a former technical school for air personnel.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

A particularly interesting collection is hosted in an adjoining shelter, wisely converted for the scope. It is based on relics from crashed aircraft, from the years of WWII. A very active group of aviation archaeologists operates in Finow, and this fantastic display is the result of their preservation effort.

Artifacts range from engine parts to aircraft components from all the air forces involved in WWII, and include substantial remains from the wrecks of a Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, and a German Föcke-Wulf FW-190, a high-performing fighter manufactured in great numbers, but today sadly very hard to find even in museums.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Finally, closer to the former runway, two shelters cover a few helicopters, including some formerly in service with the Volkspolizei – the police of the GDR – as well as a MiG-15 with two seats for training, and a MiG-21.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Outside on the grass, a MiG-27 fighter bomber and a MiG-17, both in the colors of the GDR Air Force (aka NVA).

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Approaching the exit, a deployable aircraft-stopping harness for emergencies can be seen, close to a movable SAM launcher from the NVA, and a massive Sukhoi Su-22 similarly in the colors of the NVA, like those to be found in Cottbus (see above).

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

The ticket office of the museum is hosted in a former technical facility with reinforced doors, possibly a storage for special ordnance.

Former Soviet Base & Air Museum Luftfahrtmuseum Finowfurt

Thanks to the proximity with Berlin and the wealth of interesting artifacts, this museum is a highly valuable Soviet counterpart to the Westwardly-oriented museum in Gatow (on a former British airfield near Potsdam, website here). Besides a rich collection of aircraft and technical gear, complemented by a display of interesting findings from the aviation archaeology group, Finow allows to get a flavor of how a Soviet base looked like in the days of operation. For aircraft enthusiasts, a visit may easily take 2 hours or more.

Getting there

The museum is conveniently located in Finowfurt, immediately out of the highway A11 (exit Eberswalde), going from Berlin to Szczecin in northern Poland. It is less than 1 hour driving from downtown Berlin. The museum is mostly open-air, with some collections hosted in former aircraft shelters. A large free parking is available on site. Website here. Please note that credit card may not be accepted. Going with cash is recommended.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

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The museum of Rechlin can be found in the former premises of an Army research center dating from the years of the Third Reich. It is located in the open countryside, about 80 km north of Berlin, in the vicinity of lake Müritz. Following the Soviet occupation of the area in 1945, the center went on as a technical site of the Red Army.

The museum has restored the original buildings, and set up an exhibition mainly focused on the history of German military aeronautics. The exhibition is both indoor and outdoor.

The indoor part has on display a number of German aircraft, aircraft engines and several related parts, mainly from pre-WWII or WWII. A highlight of the show is a number of reconstructed exemplars, created putting together original parts and some reproduced components. Of course, the result is now airworthy, but considering how hard to find these aircraft are today in collections, this is a rare opportunity to have a first-hand look at how these models looked like.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

A very interesting collection of original engines and components from the Third Reich period is on display. The level of engineering sophistication reached in the years of WWII is really astonishing. It was at that time that piston power reached its top development in aeronautics. Furthermore, the first jet engines entering production date from the final stages of WWII too, and are here represented.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

Another hangar is mostly dedicated to large 1:1 mock-ups of extremely rare German designs from WWI and WWII, including a Dornier Do-335 in a push-pull configuration, which have been accurately assembled, providing a vivid portrait of how these now very rare-to-find aircraft.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

Other exhibits include Soviet-made aircraft, partly dismounted for didactic purposes.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

In another wing, the museum displays a rich exhibition of original artifacts from the era of Soviet occupation. These include many aircraft components, jettisonable seats, helmets, several radio components, papers and pictures.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

Simulators for aircraft and helicopter cockpits are also part of the display.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

Memorabilia include everyday items, Soviet newspapers, badges and celebration plates. The page of a German newspaper, from the date of the final withdrawal of then-Russian troops back home from Germany, titles ‘Farewell, Muzhiks!’ – really a momentous event.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

In an adjoining room, uniforms and emblems from both the USSR forces and the East-German NVA can be found in display cases.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

The outdoor exhibition is centered on a few original aircraft and helicopters, as well as fast motorboats and other vehicles. Aircraft include a MiG-21, MiG-23, and a massive Sukhoi Su-22.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

As for helicopters, there are a Mil-2, Mil-24 and a Mil-8 – all Soviet-made. The latter two have the main rotor blades still dismounted.

Luftfahrttechnisches Museum Rechlin

The research center, and today the museum, is located just about 5 km north of Rechlin/Lärz airfield, active in the Third Reich in aeronautical research – Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket-powered interceptors were studied here. The airfield became a large Soviet base from 1945 to the time when the then-Russian troops left. Today the airport has been converted for general aviation use. A report from an exploration of its premises can be found here.

Getting there

This is a proportionate collection, friendly to visit for everybody, in a nice rural setting. Memories from the history of aviation in Germany before and during WWII, as well as from Soviet operations taking place in the area – an often overlooked but crucial chapter in the military history of the GDR. The exact address is Am Claassee 1, 17248 Rechlin, Germany. Official website here. Visiting may require 45 minutes to 1.5 hours.

Flugwelt Altenburg/Nobitz

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Similarly to the museum in Cottbus and Finowfurt, this collection – whose name ‘Flugwelt’ translates into ‘World of Flight’ – is built on the premises of a former airbase – Altenburg/Nobitz, 20 miles south of Leipzig. Actually this was a very active center, managed by the Soviets who operated from here in the years of the Cold War with MiG-21, 23 and 27, and was also one of those sites in the GDR selected for nuclear weapons storage. Tactical missiles batteries were located also here in response to the deployment of Pershing missiles by the US on the territory of Western Germany. in the Eighties.

The airbase has been converted to non-military use, and today it is active mainly with general aviation flights. Some former hangars are used by private companies.

The air museum is made of two physically separated parts. The main building with the ticket office is the former entrance to the Soviet airbase. Here an incredible, original mural from Soviet times is still gracing the wall, together with a map of the airfield, again from Soviet times. From there you access the inside exhibition, cluttered with aircraft parts, engines, flight suits,… Not everything from the Soviet part of the Iron Curtain though, as uniforms and parts from Western Germany and other non-communist Countries can be spotted.

Flugwelt Altenburg Nobitz – World of Flight

Among the most interesting artifacts in the exhibition, a large explanatory scheme of a servo-actuation plant of an aircraft, with explanations in cyrillic alphabet, and a simulator for a radar mounted inside the MiG-21. Both really used training items, very uncommon to find.

Flugwelt Altenburg Nobitz – World of Flight

A part of an A380, two gliders, some Interflug memorabilia – the flagship airline of the GDR – and tons of models and radio-transmission hardware complete the picture. Unfortunately, also here everything is in German only. The volunteers are welcoming and helpful, but unfortunately communication is not easy due to language issues.

In a first part of the open-air exhibition it is possible to find a couple of MiG-21, one East-German and the other Soviet, a helicopter of the Police of the GDR, plus other aircraft from the West-German Luftwaffe, namely a Dassault Atlantique patrol, a G-91 and an F-86.

Flugwelt Altenburg Nobitz – World of Flight

The two MiGs have been carefully restored, and the Red Army one appears to have been a former gate guardian at Altenburg/Nobitz.

Flugwelt Altenburg Nobitz – World of Flight

Another part of the open-air collection can be found across the street, where a big Transall C-160 a Lockheed F-104 and a Sukhoi Su-22 can be spotted. The area is big and there is room for more aircraft – hopefully, this good-caring staff will have the chance to add even more items to their well-preserved collection in the future!

Flugwelt Altenburg Nobitz – World of Flight

Curiously enough, the area was liberated from the Nazis by US troops in 1945, and handed over to the Soviets only after the end of WWII. A memorial stone remembers the actions of the US divisions fighting in the area in wartime.

Not time-expensive to visit (about 45 minutes to 1 hour for aircraft-minded people), besides a valuable aircraft collection and some rare artifacts of interest for aviation enthusiasts, this places offers the unique chance to enter a preserved gate building of a former Soviet airbase.

Getting there

The airport is located about two miles east of the nice historical town of Altenburg, itself about 30 minutes southeast of Leipzig. I would recommend going with a car and a good nav, for reaching the exact location of the museum may be a bit tricky with visual navigation. Website here, with some basic info also in English. The place is run by volunteers and it’s closed except during weekends in the good season, so carefully check opening times.

Aircraft and Missiles Around Tucson

March 25, 2017December 24, 2018 CarloRLeave a comment

The dry desert ranges of southern Arizona make for a perfect habitat for warbirds – the almost null humidity percentage and ‘sky clear’ conditions prevailing year round are particularly attractive when it comes to store rust and corrosion-prone pieces of machinery, like aircraft are.

For this reason the region between Phoenix and the border with Mexico is scattered with larger and smaller aircraft-centered businesses, going from pure airplane and engine storages, to refurbishment shops, parts resellers and so on.

Of course, if you own an old aircraft you would like to preserve, it would be a good deal finding a place in the area. This is what some people from the Government must have thought when they placed the famous AMARG in Tucson, in the southernmost part of Arizona. It was likely the same motivation which brought the largest private collection of aircraft in the world – Pima Air & Space Museum – down to the same location.

These two attractions, both perfectly accessible on a regular basis, already make a visit to Tucson a true ‘must’ for aviation-minded people. But the area offers also another unique site surely to be found in the shortlist of every aviation enthusiast – the only inter-continental ballistic missile silo you can visit in the US!

In this chapter you can see a series of photographs I took during a memorable two-days visit to these places back in 2012.

The 309th AMARG at Davis-Monthan AFB – Tucson, AZ

The acronym AMARG stands for ‘Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group’, a group which is operating under the Air Force Materiel Command. The most conspicuous part of their facility at the Air Force Base of Davis-Monthan – also home to the 355th FW – is a huge open-air storage area in the desert. This is made of two parts.

The first is where surplus aircraft from the various branches of the Armed Forces of the US and some of their Allies are stored. Before being placed out on the desert, these aircraft are treated to better preserve them, sealing all doors, windows, holes and slots. Some parts are covered in a special white rubber coating, to protect them from direct sunlight exposure. The process can be inverted, and all aircraft preserved in these conditions can be re-activated and return fully operational.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

The aircraft stored here in a mothballed condition are really many and make for an unbelievable sight! You will not find the same amount of planes in the same spot anywhere else in the world! And if you think this is just the ‘not strictly necessary part’ of the Armed Forces, well, it’s hard to imagine what the sight of all the aircraft on duty would be like!

AMARG Davis-Monthan

In the same part of the installation there is also a kind of ‘commemoration alley’, where an exemplar for almost every model ever stored on the base have been preserved, so as to keep memory of the past activities of the AMARG. These aircraft are placed to the sides of a straight road in a mothballed condition.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

The second main part of the AMARG is known as ‘the boneyard’, and it looks more like a huge scrapyard. Here aircraft which are not intended to ever return to active service are stored. Thanks to the good climate, their condition probably appears more derelict than it actually is. Most aircraft here are used as donors for spare parts to supply others still on duty. The business is not limited to within the national borders. At the time of my visit, there were still many General Dynamics F-111, which until recently had been used to supply spare parts to the Royal Australian Air Force, which had just finished to phase out that model from active service.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

Geographically in the same area of ‘the boneyard’, it is possible to see also some larger aircraft on storage, up in size to the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, plus some unique exemplars, like the incredible Boeing YAL-1, a modified 747-400 mounting an experimental laser cannon!

AMARG Davis-Monthan

There are also some large missiles, and some mystery aircraft with civil markings, as well as a less attractive but really important asset – all the factory rigs necessary for re-booting the production of discontinued plane models.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

Other items not on shortage here are jet engines. There are hundreds of them, some stored in dedicated cases, some just placed on a sand lot in open air.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

The AMARG is very busy also with maintenance and conversion activities. At the time of my visit, they were working on the conversion of some McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom into target drones for weapons testing.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

Leaving the installation you can spot close to the fence of the airbase – and besides a parking area for sequestered cars – a small deposit for aircraft. I don’t know much about it, but noticed a pretty good number of interesting items, especially a series of Grumman Albatross.

AMARG Davis-Monthan

Visiting

This is an active military installation, and visiting is managed only by the Pima Air & Space Museum through a special agreement with the Air Force. The museum is located at a short distance from Davis-Monthan, just south of downtown Tucson. You will need to go to the museum reception to arrange a visit. Tours are offered on a regular basis, but it is not possible to book tickets, so you will need to go early to make sure you get your tickets. Full info from the website of the tour here.

The visit will take a couple of hours in total. You will board an air conditioned bus and you will tour the AMARG facilities without stepping off, which is nice as the temperature maybe crazy outside. The guide during my visit was a friendly former Super Sabre pilot and war veteran. Taking pictures was allowed at the time of my visit, except when military personnel were in the scope of your camera and in some specific spots your guide told us. A very enjoyable visit to a truly unique place! Totally recommended for aviation enthusiasts.

Pima Air & Space Museum – Tucson, AZ

Besides being the largest privately run collection of aircraft in the world, this museum has adopted a very interesting acquisition policy and also boasts an active restoration facility, making the place interesting not only for plenty of aircraft, but also for their variety and condition of preservation.

The museum is organized with some large hangars, close to the reception and gift shop, a huge open-air part and some smaller hangars scattered over the property.

The first hangars showcase some items from the collection which were restored to a very good non-flying condition. These include a very rare Martin PBM-5 Mariner, a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, an A-10 Warthog, a F-14 Tomcat and a F-4 Phantom! Also a super rare North American F-107 is part of the collection. Already enough for a visit, these are just a starter…

Pima Air & Space Museum

On the outside you will find a representative for virtually any model ever in service with the USAF or the Navy since the Fifties, from fighters to bombers, transport and observation aircraft.

Pima Air & Space Museum

AMARG Davis-Monthan

Pima Air & Space Museum

These include a B-47 Stratojet, two B-52 Stratofortress, a B-36 Peacemaker – it looks like a real monster even parked outside, where things look shorter! – and some special aircraft, like a ski-equipped C-130, a veteran of operation ‘Deep Freeze’ to Antarctica, a Super Guppy and the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker christianed “Weightless Wonder V”, used for parabolic zero-gravity flights.

Pima Air & Space Museum

In a somewhat secluded part of the open-air exhibition you will find a shortlist of extremely rare aircraft, including a Beechcraft 2000 Starship, a twin turboprop design by Burt Rutan with a canard configuration, made for the executive market, and a Budd RB-1 Conestoga, an aircraft proposed during WWII when an aluminium shortage was feared, and mainly made of steel! Both models never entered serial production. Nearby there is also a Boeing YC-14 prototype, which participated in a competition for a STOL aircraft to replace the C-130.

Pima Air & Space Museum

Other highlights on the outside include a Convair B-58 Hustler and a Douglas VC-118 Liftmaster – a version of the Douglas DC-6 propliner – serving as Air Force One transporting Presidents Kennedy and Johnson on some official travels. But the list of interesting aircraft here would be really long!

Pima Air & Space Museum

Some aircraft in the exhibition are pretty rare to find at least in this part of the world. These include a French Sud Aviation Caravelle passenger aircraft, several British aircraft including a Fairey Gannet, and also some Soviet models.

Pima Air & Space Museum

The restoration facility could not be toured during my visit, but on the outside I could spot a rare Avro Shackleton patrol aircraft from the Fleet Air Arm – an unexpected sight in the desert of Arizona!

Pima Air & Space Museum

Among the warbirds preserved in the smaller hangars, a B-17, B-24 and B-29 from WWII are surely worth mentioning. Another interesting sight is one of NASA’s X-15 rocket planes.

Pima Air & Space Museum

You can choose to tour the huge open-air exhibition with special covered trolleys departing at certain times instead of moving around alone. I elected to go on my own, but I experienced a certain level of dehydration – as it is typical in deserts, a combination of intense sunlight, hot air temperature and very low humidity triggers intense perspiration from your skin, but this goes unnoticed to you, for sweat evaporates fast and has not the time to accumulate to form droplets, so you don’t realize anything strange is happening… until your mind starts to feel light and your legs very heavy! Luckily, there is a restaurant offering cold drinks inside the museum – there I consumed the fastest ‘tall size’ of Coke in my life during my visit!

Visiting

The museum is open year round and almost every day. Check the website here for further info. The location is quite close to downtown Tucson, and can be easily reached by car.

To help your plans, if you are an aviation enthusiast consider that the combination of a visit to this museum and the AMARG facility described above will easily fill a 1-day schedule, for this collection is extra-large and also very interesting. This is especially true if you are interested in taking pictures – something you are encouraged to do by the clean, perfect light typical of desert areas.

I visited in August and the temperature was very high. You can bear it easily thanks to the low humidity rate, but be sure to take precautions to avoid dehydration. Visiting in other seasons may be indicated to enjoy milder climatic conditions.

Titan Missile Museum – Sahuarita, AZ

This museum encompasses a full Titan II missile launch facility. The Titan II was constituted by a liquid propelled, two-stages missile capable of reaching targets more than 6000 miles away, transporting a 9 megaton W-53 thermonuclear warhead, the most powerful ever deployed operationally by the US.

There were just above 50 such launch sites in the US, in southern Arizona, Kansas and Arkansas, and this is the only one which can be visited today. The operational life of the missile spanned from the early Sixties to the mid-Eighties. Even though it was soon superseded by the Minuteman missile fleet, the mighty Titan II remains a true icon of the Cold War era.

Titan II Missile Museum

Being more than 100 ft tall and weighing around 350’000 lb, this missile could not be moved easily, and was in fact kept in a concrete interred silo specifically built around it. The cylinder-shaped silo is a relatively small part of the installation, which is composed also of a number of underground passages, control rooms, staircases, storages, safety doors, air ducts, cables and literally tons of equipment.

The whole site was designed to withstand the blast of a nuclear attack directed to the silo, itself a designated target for the enemy of the time – the Soviet Union. To this aim, a large part of the structures in the underground facility are standing on a complicated elastic base, with springs and dampers to compensate for intense vibrations coming from the ground in case of a nuclear attack.

Titan II Missile Museum

During your visit to the museum you will receive a briefing about the history of the Titan II in a service house. You will be given a helmet before accessing the underground control part.

The most interesting stop in this area is by the control room of the missile, where the condition of all systems was constantly kept under control. It was from here that the missile could be armed and launched in case an attack was authorized. During the visit you are shown a simulation of the launch sequence. This is a very lively experience, for all control panels are lighted on as they used to be when the system was actually working!

Titan II Missile Museum

After exploring a bit of the underground site, you reach the inside of the cylindrical silo, where a Titan II is still standing today. Here you can appreciate the monstrous size of this ICBM, and the complexity of the system – many pipes going in and out, cables and other systems.

Titan II Missile Museum

In the final part of the visit you leave the underground facility and return to the ground level, where you can have a look at some pieces of machinery like dismounted rocket engines, pumps and other equipment connected with the function of the site.

Titan II Missile Museum

All in all, this museum represents a unique destination for aviation enthusiasts as well as historians, veterans of the Cold War and everybody with a fascination for relics of the duel between the two Superpowers. Even if you are not an expert, you will be astonished by the size and complexity of this missile, so there is definitely something for everybody in this site!

Visiting

The Titan museum is located south of Sahuarita, less than 15 miles south of Tucson, AZ, along the I-19 going to the Mexican border.

The museum is actually a friend of the Pima Air & Space Museum, but it is a separated entity, so timetables are different. Visiting is possible only through guided tours, which are organized on a regular basis. Full information from their website. They also offer special-themed tours to usually inaccessible parts of the site. Taking pictures is possible anywhere, for the installation is today decommissioned and declassified.

Touring the underground facility may ba a little uncomfortable when moving in groups – the rooms where not intended for tourist groups! -, there are several flights of stairs and the terrain is sometimes uneven. That said, for the average person there is really nothing to worry about during the visit.

War Museums in Moscow

November 27, 2016May 9, 2020 CarloRLeave a comment

People visiting Moscow from abroad usually spend much of the time in the Kremlin and the nearby districts, where they can find many cultural attractions, as well as fashion stores, great hotels and restaurants. Among the features of Russia’s capital city less known to the average tourist are the many monuments and museums dedicated to war history, which in some cases host extremely interesting exhibitions and artifacts from various ages, which would tell the visitor as much as the most prominent attractions in town.

Three I could visit in person are cited in this post, all of them easily reachable with the usual metro rail in a few minutes from the downtown.

The following photographs were taken during a visit to Moscow in September 2015.

Central Museum of the Armed Forces

This is a purely Soviet installation Cold War buffs will definitely like very much… Despite the old-fashioned website – which after all contributes to the picture of a Soviet-state-owned company… – the building was built following WWII, better known in Russia as the Great Patriotic war of 1941-1945. On the outside, besides the entrance there are a missile and a tank. Once inside you immediately find yourself in a large two-levels hall, dominated by a sculpture of Lenin and a huge mosaic wall, plus paintings of battles and other war-themed scenes all around.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

From soon after your arrival, you get to grips with the only real ‘problem’ of this installation, where – just like many others touristic sights in Russia – everything – including the escape plan in the event of fire… – is written in Russian only. So, from the viewpoint of history, you’d better go prepared if you want to get the most from this exhibition, for you won’t find any understandable written information, unless obviously you understand some Russian.

There are several halls in the museum, related to historical moments from WWI up to the present day. A first notable room presents a lively reconstruction of a WWI trench fight, with lights and sounds.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

The path through the museum follows the course of history, including the revolution, which put an end to WWI for Russia. Then follows WWII. I have to say I never found a collection of Nazi artifacts so rich as the one preserved here in any other place I visited. Literally hundreds of items, from propaganda posters to flags and banners, weapons, medals, papers,… Also present in due quantity are flags and banners of the Soviet Union, as well as Soviet uniforms, weapons and medals from the age of WWII.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

Probably the most notable items from the time are the red banner raised on the Reichstag in Berlin – the corresponding b/w photograph is today one of the symbols of the end of WWII – and an original metal eagle with a swastika, probably taken from the Reichstag or the Reichkanzlei. The flag and the eagle are put together in a kind of monumental installation in a large central hall, celebrating the victory of the Soviet Union in the Patriotic War.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

An old coat and a hat belonging to Stalin are also part of the exhibition.

Moving on to the Cold War period, a first focus is on the early history of the Soviet atomic program, leading to the detonation of the first nuclear asset in 1949, and to the testing by the Soviets of the largest thermonuclear device ever. Many models and some documentation are available – I could not understand the details, in that occasion I really regretted having no knowledge of Russian! The development of strategic missiles is covered next, including the much connected race to space.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

The highlight of this part of the exhibition – at least for western visitors – may be the wreck of Francis Gary Powers’ aircraft, downed in 1959 by a SAM, basically a Soviet invention, during an illegal flight over the territory of the USSR ordered by the CIA. A large part of the fuselage and of the wings can be seen, with technical labels in English. Also part of the ejectable seat and other parts of this Lockheed U-2 are packed together somewhat inelegantly. Some original papers and maps the pilot had with him at the time of the accident are exhibited, together with many photographs. Extremely interesting.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army Gary Powers U2

Approaching the last stage of the Soviet Union, scale models, mockups and parts of larger nuclear missiles are presented. Also the war in Afghanistan is mentioned and the more contemporary war actions in Chechnya and other theaters following the collapse of the USSR are outlined and artifacts and photographs showcased. A window from the relic of the ill-fated Kursk submarine remembers this more recent tragedy – together with a monument on the outside to the right of the entrance.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

Finally, the backyard is full of interesting items like missiles, gantries, heavy vehicles, tanks and so on. Unfortunately, it started raining heavily at the time of my visit, so photographs were not possible.

Moscow Central Armed Forces Museum Red Army

All in all, I would say one of the best museums in Europe on the topic of 20th century war history, and probably the best on Russian/Soviet operations in the 20th century. The presentation may be perceived as antiquated for todays standards, nonetheless this may be appreciated by people who are not totally new to this piece of history and who are more interested in seeing valuable and unusual ‘hardware’. I would recommend at least a full hour for the interested visitor, extendable to 1.5 hours rather easily including a detailed visit to the outside exhibition.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is not far north from downtown Moscow, less than .2 miles from Dostoyevskaya metro stop (line 10). The building can be approached walking along ul. Sovetskoy Armii, on the side of the park. The neighborhood is decent and safe, I had no bad feelings visiting alone.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War

Moscow is scattered with monuments remembering the Soviet effort and the victorious outcome of WWII, but the focal point of the celebration is the park at Poklonnaya Hill with the museum of the Great Patriotic War. The park is an extensive area, built around a perspective leading to the top of the hill, where the museum can be found (website here). This is hosted in the curved building behind the very tall spine which can be seen from the distance.

Approaching from the east, from the famous Kutuzovski Prospekt where many important political players of the USSR used to live, including Brezhnev, it is possible to spot first a huge arch, just in the middle of the road, and departing from it the perspective leading to the hill, just to the left of the Prospekt. To the left of the hill as well as beyond the spine there is a park with several smaller installations remembering war actions involving the USSR and more recently Russia, and following WWII. It is also possible to find there an exhibition with cannons, armored vehicles and other warcrafts.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

The museum, accessible from the front of the circular building, is intended basically to celebrate the heroism of the Red Army in the war against Germany. It acts as a place of remembrance for the many who never came back, and during my visit there I coincidentally could assist to a ceremony with high ranking military staff celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

Inside the most notable items are huge and very vivid dioramas – I must say, very well made, especially for the age – reconstructing some scenes from some especially dramatic battles of the war against Nazi Germany.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

In the crypt it is possible to find the very interesting ‘Hall of sorrow’, a more modern monument to the fallen soldiers, with many crystal drops hanging from the ceiling, representing the tears of Mother Russia. These should be really many, with a proportion to the number of soldiers actually lost in the conflict.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

The exhibition of artifacts includes a selection of items from various moments and fronts of the war. I could not tour this part freely because of the above mentioned ceremony, but what I could see was interesting. Unfortunately, I could not see the Hall of fame.

Above all, the plan of the whole installation and the Soviet style adopted, not so bombastic in this case, are extremely interesting. Touring the museum may take less than 45 minutes. If you are interested in moving in the park, you may need more. Distances here follow monumental proportions, so monuments are not really close to each other as they might seem on a map.

Museum of the Great Patriotic War Moscow

Getting there and moving around

The area can be reached easily from Park Pobedy metro stop on line 3. The perspective leading to the museum starting from the arch (and from the metro station) is about .6 miles long.

Museum-Panorama ‘The battle of Borodino’

You can find this museum very close to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War described above. The theme of the exhibition is here the battle of Borodino during the war against Napoleon and the French Army.

Borodino is located about 80 miles west of Moscow. There the advancing French Army faced the full power of the Russian Army. Napoleon himself was present and led war operations, while Kutuzov and Bagration, the top-ranking generals of the Tsar, were among the strategists on the Russian side. The battle was a prototypical battle of the time, with wild fire from cannons, infantry and cavalry, all in the arena. It turned out very cruel, taking a huge death toll on both parts. As a matter of fact, the Russian Army, which had constantly retreated avoiding the contact with the French until that great battle, continued back towards Moscow, which was finally abandoned and set on fire as Napoleon’s Army was reaching it. On one side, the Russians failed to stop the French at Borodino, on the other they set for the French a deadly trap – the French did not quit chasing the Russians until the winter of 1812 finally struck when they were infinitely far from home with no active supply lines, nor food nor resupply storages at hand. The season killed basically 9 out of 10 on the French side, triggering the end of Napoleon’s dreams of power.

The museum was recently refurbished in a modern key, with a detailed description of some moments of the battle on wide screens and interactive panels – again, unfortunately all in Russian. Uniforms, weapons and artifacts add to the visit, but the highlight here is the beautiful panorama painting. This is similar to the cyclorama in Gettysburg, PA, and it is a more than 300 ft long circular painting vividly depicting some important moments in the battle of Borodino. As you can learn from the website, the painting was made in 1912 (before the Soviets) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the battle. The building was renovated in 1962.

Museum-Panorama The Battle of Borodino Napoleon War Moscow

The visit may not take much, especially if you are not interested in the war against Napoleon, but I would suggest going there even only for the uniqueness of the installation as well as for its artistic significance. In any case, the visit may not take more than 45 minutes, especially if you don’t understand Russian.

Right behind the museum it is possible to see the wooden hut where Kutuzov and his staff discussed and decided for the destruction of Moscow in order to jeopardize the plans of the French to find a shelter there for the approaching winter season.

Museum-Panorama The Battle of Borodino Napoleon War Moscow

Getting there and moving around

The museum can be reached easily from Park Pobedy metro stop on line 3, like the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. From the metro stop you can walk west on Kutuzovsky Prospekt, and you will soon find the museum on the left (northern) side of the road, about .2 miles from the station.

Surrender Sites of Nazi Germany – Reims & Berlin-Karlshorst

October 8, 2016September 22, 2023 CarloR1 Comment

Differently from what one is usually taught in schools, World War II in Europe did not stop in one moment with the death by suicide of the Führer, on April 30th, 1945.

As soon as the advancing Western Allies established strongpoints within the original borders of Germany – as these had been before the war – in 1945 the chain of command in Germany began to vacillate. Rumors about contacts between top-ranking Nazi officials and the SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force) have lived to this day, and they are reasonable even though not well documented – as a matter of fact, Hitler dismissed both Göring and Himmler just before his death, on account of unauthorized contacts with ‘the enemy’, promoting Admiral Dönitz to the rank of president of Germany.

The understandable confusion of those days at the ‘top of the pyramid’ is reflected by the local autonomous surrender of substantial parts of the German armed forces around Europe, against the will of the Führer, and even before his death. Literally millions of soldiers were disarmed on both fronts in April 1945, and the process culminated in the surrender of all German forces in Italy on April 29th, the day before Hitler’s death.

The new German president Dönitz acted with the same authority of the Führer in the last stormy days of the collapsing Nazi rule, early May 1945. Under Dönitz’s mandate, between the 1st and 7th of May 1945 some separate surrenders took place, including all German forces in Austria, North-West Germany, Holland, Denmark, Berlin – who surrendered to the Soviets -, Mecklenburg and Pommern north of Berlin, and Bavaria. The German navy ceased war operations on May 5th, by direct order of admiral Dönitz.

All this preceded the ‘official’, authorized, unconditional surrender which was signed on behalf of acting president Dönitz separately by General Jödl in the headquarters of the Expeditionary Force in Reims in the early hours of May 7th, and by Feldmarschall Keitel in Berlin-Karlshorst on May 8th, in presence of General Zhukov of the Red Army. The capitulation called for quitting all military operations at 23:01 CET, May 8th. Both of the signers were arrested soon after, as were Dönitz, Göring and other top German players of the war in Europe.

Today, the two locations where the unconditional surrender(s) were signed are open for visitors. The following photographs were taken during visits in 2015 and 2016.

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Reims – Musée de la Reddition
Berlin-Karlshorst – Deutsch-Russisches Museum

Reims – Musée de la Reddition

The headquarters of the SHAEF where the ‘instrument of surrender’ was signed on the western front occupied the building of a high school.

Nazi German Surrender Museum Capitulation Reims

Today, the building has returned to its original function, but a small part of it with the original room and table have been preserved inside of a museum on-site. The walls of the room are covered with original maps from the time, resembling how it looked like in 1945.

Nazi Germany Surrender Museum Capitulation Reims

Other rooms are packed with showcases, where you can see many items, including an official copy of the document signed by Jödl, authenticated by Dönitz, uniforms, original flags and other memorabilia.

Nazi German Surrender Museum Capitulation Reims

The museum is rather small, and can be toured in about 30 minutes at most. This excludes the video presentation, which I had not the chance to watch.

Getting there and moving around

The historical place is located to the north of the city center in Reims, very close to the railway station. The exact address is 12 Rue du Président Franklin Roosevelt, 51100 Reims. There is chance of public parking nearby. If you parked somewhere else for visiting historical Reims, I suggest not moving your car, as the museum can be easily reached with a short 5 minutes walk from Porte de Mars, right on the northern edge of the center. Website here.

Berlin-Karlshorst – Deutsch-Russisches Museum

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Soon after the end of the war and the division of Berlin, with the district of Berlin-Karlshorst falling under Soviet rule, the Soviets converted the building where the capitulation was signed for hosting their headquarters. After the birth of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) at the end of the Forties, the place was turned into a museum.

Nazi German Surrender Museum Capitulation Berlin Karlshorst

Besides the very room where the document was signed, you can find some dioramas dating back to the first years of the museum, as well as a specifically designed foyer and a stained glass window portraying the statue of the Soviet Soldier in Treptower Park – dating from the same late Stalin’s era.

Nazi German Surrender Museum Capitulation Berlin Karlshorst

More recently, the museum has been refurbished and enlarged with very interesting and well prepared exhibits, including many memorabilia items, findings and relics not only from the events of May 1945, but more in general from WWII and the less known eastern front.

Nazi German Surrender Museum Capitulation Berlin Karlshorst

Compared to the museum in Reims, this is much broader and richer, going well beyond the preservation of the room and the evocation of the last stage of the war.

Getting there and moving around

The museum is in a nice residential area in southern Berlin. This is not a touristic area, so you’d better go there only if you are interested in this specific museum, cause there is not much else to see. Yet if you are interested in WWII and especially to the eastern front, I would say this absolutely a must – all in all, there is not so much information in the touristic areas of Berlin about WWII, so this might fill the gap.

Anyway, the exact location is Zwieseler Strasse 4. This can be reached with bus 296 from the S-3 station Karlshorst or from U5 stop Tierpark. Alternatively, from S-3 Karlshorst it is a walk of about ten minutes. Finally, if you are going by car – the most convenient way – there is a parking right in front of the building. Website here.

Wolfsschlucht II – Hitler’s Forgotten Headquarters in France

September 17, 2016December 24, 2018 CarloR3 Comments

A few miles from the city of Soissons, and precisely in the municipality of Margival in the northern French countryside, southeast of the region of the Somme – where the fierce offensive of the British and their Allies took place in 1916 – lies a very little advertised and almost unknown item of great interest for war historians.

It was here, not far from where young Hitler fought for the Kaiser in WWI, that the occupation forces of Nazi Germany started building their headquarters in 1942. The place, not far north from Paris and at a similar distance from the coasts of Normandy and the narrowest section of the Channel, was probably selected also for the existence of a long railway tunnel, with an entrance hidden in a small but deep valley – of use for hiding the special armored train Hitler used to travel over the occupied regions of the Third Reich.

Being intended for acting as a major directional center where the Führer himself should be in charge, the military installation was designed with all that was necessary for leading the German offensive and directing operations on a potential western front, and with some comfort for the top figures of the German government. Similarly to other bases destined to host the Führer, the fort in Margival received a picturesque name – ‘Wolfsschlucht II’ or ‘Wolf’s canyon II’.

The fact that soon after the D-Day operations and the real opening of a western front for Germany the region fell under Allied control meant that the installation was used intensively for only about three months in the summer of 1944 – it had began to be used more considerably from the first months of 1944, when an invasion from the sea began to be seen by the Nazi high command as likely.

Hitler reportedly visited the place only in one occasion and for 1-2 days in June 1944, soon after the successful landing of the Allies in Normandy, electing to concentrate personally on the Eastern front and leaving the command of operations to other generals. General Model resided in the installation in August 1944. Soon after the area was lost to the Allies.

But the history of the place was not over. The bunkers, barracks and service buildings had been constructed by the German paramilitary Todt organization with good care and had survived the war basically undamaged. They were used by the French Army until 1955 before being selected for quartering NATO forces until 1968. Then control was given back to the French Army, who abandoned the place with the end of the Cold War in the early Nineties.

Since then the place has been left deserted and has fallen into oblivion. Only in recent years a local society of enthusiasts has begun a lengthy but precious restoration work, which by now has interested only a limited part of the huge area of this military installation.

Due to the extensive use by western forces in the Cold War period, much of the few remaining interiors date from more recently than WWII. On the other hand, the buildings and their disposition are original from the German master plan.

The following photographs were taken during an exploration of the site in August 2016.

Getting there and moving around

Wolfsschlucht II has three main gates, one to the south in Margival, leaving the D537 as the road climbs uphill in a horseshoe bend, one to the east in Laffaux, leaving the D537 to the right before reaching the town center approaching from north, and the last to the north, on Rue Principale in Neuville-sur-Margival.

I selected the first of the three, for immediately after passing the gate and the former guardhouse there is a free area where you can conveniently park your car. This area is technically inside the old fence, so if there is nobody around to greet you and to ask about, you may be worried about your car being blocked inside if somebody closes the gate. I watched the door closely and decided it had been open for months, so I left my car inside. Soon after I met one of the members of the preservation society, who assured there was no trouble in parking where I had actually parked, so I guess you can adopt the same strategy…

I must mention the preservation society has a website where they advertise guided tours of the place, even in English language (website here). I tried to contact them in advance the days prior to my visit, about twenty-five times via phone, but could never speak with anybody – the line was free but nobody answered. I sent also some emails to the guys on the contact list of the site, and never received an answer. I decided to go anyway, and in the event I could tour the place without troubles, except a few restored bunkers, which are closed and cannot be visited except with a guide I guess.

The place is not particularly creepy. Once there, I found an entire family and various other people touring the area, plus people busy in the restoration of some of the bunkers. The railway track is still active, so there are also trains passing right besides the bunkers.

The bunkers are roughly aligned along a single road leading from the southern to the northern entrance, to the east of the railway track. The length is about 1.7 miles one way, so plan a walk of about 3.5 miles for a round tour of this installation.

Sights

The first large bunker you find when approaching from the southern gate is the ‘Loano’ bunker – all names are from after WWII, where the numbers painted on the bunkers are original German. The distinctive concrete dome and the surface with holds for practicing with climbing and doing exercises is an addition dating from after WWII.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

The road then splits in two. Both ends lead to the northern part of the installation, where the most interesting bunkers can be found. The lower path goes along the railway, and climbs uphill steeply towards the end. There is less to see along that than the other path, going uphill immediately behind the ‘Loano’ bunker.

Along the latter, you can find a series of service buildings, barracks, clubhouses and canteens for troops. Also a former square with a flagpole can be seen to the side of the road at some point. Most of the buildings are totally abandoned. I explored some of them with some satisfaction, but what you can find dates clearly from relatively recent years.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Among other buildings, a partially interred bunker for troops, similar to those you can find in the batteries of the Atlantic Wall, can be spotted in the trees, refurbished but unfortunately not accessible. A distinctive feature of some of the buildings is their ‘partially armored’ construction, with the part reaching to the road made of lighter materials and that closer to the hill made of reinforced concrete.

I guess the iron window frames and blinds date back from WWII.

After a good walk you finally reach a T-shaped crossing and a group of buildings. Among them, the one belonging to the preservation society – ‘Berezina’ bunker. To the east you can spot the only multi-storey building of the complex, which reportedly served as a building for visitors, and actually looks like a small hotel. I don’t think this dates back from WWII, for the style is somewhat ‘un-German’. You can step inside at your own risk, for the building is totally derelict. Baths and canteens are still easily recognizable. To the back of the ‘Berezina’ bunker it is possible to find the entry of a heavy armored bunker, in a refurbished camouflage.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Going back to the T-shaped crossing and taking to the west you find one of the most interesting bunkers, a former communication bunker which was named ‘Patricia’ after the war. This building follows the ‘partially armored’ construction scheme. It is exceptionally long, possibly one of the largest of the kind in Europe.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Inside the building it is easy to distinguish the unarmored part to the front from the armored part to the back, closer to the hill.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Again the inside of the armored part is very similar to the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall, a consequence of both being designed by the same design studio. Remains of cables from WWII and of other equipment from various ages make this visit very interesting. It’s very dark inside the armored part, you will definitely need a torch, and be very careful, cause the pavement is uneven and there are manholes and other strange cavities all around.

The last part of the visit will bring you to the Führer’s quarters. Keeping going uphill, the road will turn north. As you reach the top of a steep climb you will be facing a corner building with three square pillars. This is bunker N.1, where Hitler was in his only visit to the Margival site in June 1944. The very sober decoration of the façade with the three pillars is the only distinctive feature of this building, which is again armored to the back.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Leaving the N.1 building to your left you may take a road proceeding around the hill without climbing. Along this road you see a grassy area with curbs framing a square spot on the ground. This is where a ‘normal’ – i.e. not armored – house for the Führer’s entourage used to stay. Further on, you can find an original Nazi swimming pool, again intended for top-ranking staff stationed in the installation.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

Going back to bunker N.1 and taking to the north, you can find large buildings possibly originally hosting command services and canteens. At the time of my visit these were undergoing restoration.

A refurbished bunker with a ‘Tobruk’ shooting post can be found to the northernmost end of the building complex.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

During my exploration I came back to the southern gate and to the ‘Loano’ bunker following the lower road along the railway. Being an active track, it should be approached with extreme caution. It is part of the tour, for it was there from the origin.

Margival Wolfsschlucht 2

All in all, this was a stress-free, easy and enjoyable exploration. The site is rich of historical significance and showcases interesting military buildings from the period of Nazi Germany. I would recommend it for everybody interested, including those in lower than average physical condition. Don’t forget guided tours are possible in principle – I wish you are luckier than me in scheduling one!

The Atlantic Wall – Off the Beaten Track

September 11, 2016October 19, 2019 CarloRLeave a comment

Soon after gaining control over French territory in early summer 1940 and after the unsuccessful battle in the sky against Britain the following autumn, having successfully occupied all Nations in continental western Europe, Hitler’s military command decided to fortify the sea border on the Atlantic coast of the Third Reich.

At that time, this meant developing existing strongpoints and building many others anew along a shoreline extending from Norway all the way to the border between France and Spain, thus encompassing the western coasts of Norway, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France.

The detailed preparation of this pharaonic project – the ‘Atlantic Wall’ – and its realization were commissioned by the government to the ‘Organization Todt’, a paramilitary organization led by Fritz Todt, and following his death by the minister of armaments Albert Speer.

Thanks to millions of tons of concrete, to forced labor – in the form of forced cooperation of the local skilled workers in the respective Countries -, and to often reconditioned cannons transferred from other fronts and older WWI forts, either original German or captured in occupied territories, tens of fortified bunkers for coastal defense of many sizes began to appear on the Atlantic coast and reached operational state between 1940 and 1944.

The proximity of the coast to undefeated Britain made the areas of southern Belgium and of the French Pas-de-Calais and northern Normandy the most fortified of all. Some among the most monstrous pieces of artillery ever deployed were installed in this sector, where it was expected that an invasion of the Reich would take place sooner or later. These batteries were operated by troops of either the German Army or Navy.

Comparatively less fortified, the coast of Normandy was that actually attacked in June 1944. Even though the German command knew an attack was imminent at that time, the preparation of the D-Day included deceptive side-operations, which successfully misled the Germans, who could not know exactly the point of the Allied invasion until little before the fateful dawn of June 6th.

Today, many of the coastal batteries in the area of the beaches of the D-Day, which played an active part trying to interfere with the Allied operations, are obviously national monuments and can be visited very easily.

On the other hand, the majority of the batteries of the Atlantic Wall, scattered along a very long coastline, have slipped into oblivion.

In France, many of the strongpoints close to the coasts and shores of the Pas-de-Calais are still there, derelict and often covered in graffiti, a very common sight along the coastline. More inland batteries and installations, including storage bunkers and service buildings, lie on private land, hence they are not publicly accessible (in theory…). In Belgium, much of what remained was willingly dismantled, leaving only a few sites open to the public as museums. And so on.

Even though the Atlantic Wall was an excessively ambitious project and remained a largely unfinished work, some of the completed installations are unusual and very interesting from the viewpoint of engineering. Thanks also to the many murals, inexplicably not preserved, dating back to the years of the Nazi occupation, exploration of many of these abandoned sites can be rewarding and a very interesting way to spend some time in these regions.

The following photographs were taken exploring some installations of the Atlantic Wall along the coast of northern Normandy and Pas-de-Calais, France, in August 2016.

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Fécamp
Dieppe
‘Friedrich August’ battery – Wimille
‘Todt’ battery – Audinghen
Calais
‘Oldenburg’ and ‘Waldam’ batteries – Calais

Fécamp

The garrison here operated a Würzburg Riese radar, of which the fork-shaped concrete base remains today, plus optical distance measurement devices. Entering the bunkers is not possible, the gates are locked.

Fécamp Atlantic Wall

Walking north on top of the shore, towards a horrible, really misplaced wind farm, it is possible to spot more measurement stations, with a characteristic bulged roof, a round shaped plant and a very thin observation slot. Going in is generally possible at your own risk – wild brambles obstruct the entrance.

Fécamp Atlantic Wall

Close to the road running along the coastline more demolished bunkers can be spotted, but they are out of reach, too close to the wind turbines and beyond a guarded perimeter.

Fécamp Atlantic Wall

Getting there and moving around

A car park can be found on top of the cliff north of the center of Fécamp, close to a small church. The area can be toured with a pleasant walk along the coastline on top of the cliff.

Dieppe

In the garden you can reach in the premises of the castle of Dieppe it is possible to spot the former entrance to the service tunnels of the local coastal fortifications. The gates are locked. Also a small bunker for a light cannon can be found nearby.

Dieppe Atlantic Wall

On top of the cliff besides the castle an armored metal observation post can be easily found. From there moving south along the road on top of the cliff you pass a totally inaccessible former battery besides a small parking area – the doors have been bricked up. Farther south another concrete observation bunker can be found, this time accessible with the usual precautions – it is very close to the rim.

Dieppe Atlantic Wall

Getting there and moving around

Reaching the castle is possible from the city center or from a dedicated parking. The top of the cliff with the metal observation post is a popular panorama point with a parking nearby. The concrete observation bunker can be reached with a narrow path with little difficulty – pay attention to the usual brambles and nettles.

‘Friedrich August’ Battery – Wimille

Little remains of this once huge battery with 305 mm naval cannons, operated by the Navy. The area has been converted for industrial production. One of the remaining bunkers, partly destroyed but still very large and imposing, can be spotted from the distance close to a factory on top of a hill, driving along Route de la Menandelle, Wimille.

Friedrich August Wimille Atlantic Wall

The area is reportedly rich of remains of the Wall, including headquarters of the German admiralty, but all are on private grounds – not just pastures or vineyards, but fenced private gardens. I spent a couple of hours trying to get close to them without success.

All in all, it is much easier and more rewarding moving along the beaches in the area, where you can surely find some interesting remains.

Getting there and moving around

Unless you have some sort of permission and you are going with a local guide, don’t waste time leaving your car, just drive uphill along Route de la Menandelle, Wimille. You will see the battery to your right in the distance.

‘Todt’ Battery – Audinghen

One of the best museums on the mighty batteries of the Pas-de-Calais has been created in one of the towers of the famous ‘Todt’ battery. This museum (Musee du Mur de l’Atlantique, wbesite here) is surely worth a visit to find an explanation of the working procedures of the battery, its history, and also for the pieces of artillery preserved here, including Europe’s only surviving ‘Leopold’ railway cannon.

Todt Battery Atlantic Wall

A less visited place nearby the museum is the former N.4 tower of the same ‘Todt’ battery. This is totally abandoned and unfortunately the ubiquitous writers hit very hard with their ignorant spoiling. Nonetheless, in the almost total darkness – you will need at least an iPhone torch for moving around – of some of the former shell storage and service rooms many substantial traces of original Nazi murals can be seen still today – much larger and more interesting than those you can find in the museum.

Todt Battery Atlantic Wall

Besides the service road, you can explore the firing chamber and the support platform of the cannon with the concrete platform of the main metal pivot still in place.

Todt Battery Atlantic Wall

Getting there and moving around

Reaching the abandoned tower N.4 is easy from the museum. From the round about where D940 and D191 cross you will find the museum leaving D940 close by along a road called La Sence. Leaving the museum to your right, keep driving along La Sence. You will come to a T-shaped crossing, where you need to turn left. The road will start to descend downhill, and you will find a convenient parking area to the left just before reaching D940. Leave your car here. Leaving the parking from the main gate by foot, turn right on the road you just came from, and soon after take an unpaved service road to the left, in the direction of the sea. Follow this road until it turns left – about .15 miles later. You can spot the tower partly hidden by the trees.

The tower has a shape very similar to that of the one you can visit in the museum, so you may already have an idea of the plan of the site. Anyway, an entrance can be found on the eastern side – i.e. the back side – of the tower. The murals can be found on the lower floor, so no climbing is strictly needed. The ground is extremely muddy and slippery, so carefully choose your shoes. The rooms are almost totally dark, so you will need at least a small torch and good flash or a tripod for your camera.

You can also walk around on the outside to the front of the tower. Entering from there is very difficult, the level of the ground inside being much lower than that on the outside.

Calais

This unattractive port town is home to many installations connected with the Atlantic Wall. The beaches to the south of the town are crowded with cannon and observation bunkers, which are ‘gently’ moving with time from the original elevated positions to a lower level close to the water.

Calais Atlantic Wall

On a large abandoned area which was once a huge car park – possibly for embarking cars going over the Channel to England – to the west of the city centre it is possible to spot an armored tunnel/shelter for storing a railway cannon.

Calais Atlantic Wall

Getting there and moving around

The installations on the western beaches of Calais can be reached and walked very easily. Just park your car in one of the parking areas for people going to the beach and go by foot.

The tunnel/shelter cannot be reached, it is in an abandoned parking which nonetheless is private property (many signs and fences in place). You can photograph it with a zoom lens parking your car in front of the cemetery on Avenue Pierre de Coubertin, or in front of one of the gates of the area on Rue d’Asfeld. No walking is needed.

‘Oldenburg’ and ‘Waldam’ Batteries – Calais

Among the most remarkable remains of the Atlantic Wall, these two batteries are located close to the beaches east of central Calais.

Calais Oldenburg Battery Atlantic Wall

The two huge towers of the ‘Oldenburg’ battery used to host heavy naval cannons and were operated by the German Navy. Today the cannons are gone, but the huge concrete bunkers are still there. Also a one-of-a-kind bunker hospital can be spotted nearby.

The installations are totally derelict, and unfortunately the area is today on the border of a guarded and overcrowded refugee camp, so you don’t feel very safe when moving around – small groups of young immigrants ‘escaping’ their camp and without much to do will probably find and stare at you – and at your belongings. Try to avoid misunderstandings, but be ready to defend yourself. On the plus side, Calais center is populated by much Police, clearly aware of the exceptional condition of the town in these days.

Calais Waldam Battery Atlantic Wall

The ‘Waldam’ battery besides is placed farther east with respect to ‘Oldenburg’, in the territory of Le Fort Verd. Here besides the ‘usual’ intermediate size bunkers for cannons you can spot an interesting piece of engineering, in the form of a concrete bunker capable of revolving around a pin. At least one exemplar is still in relatively good shape. Also a very unusual observation tower for aiming equipment can be spotted nearby.

Calais Waldam Battery Atlantic Wall

Exploring the site can be done with no official restriction, but the area is mainly for bird hunting, so be careful not to interfere with hunting-related activities. Accessing the totally derelict bunkers is possible if you go prepared to face wild vegetation, brambles and nettles. Immigrants do not go far from their base camp, so you have very low chance to find them if you move in the area of the ‘Waldam’ battery.

Calais Waldam Battery Atlantic Wall

As usual in the area, ship-arresting devices, once standing half submerged on the beach, can be spotted around, often used as posts for roadsigns or for marking road corners.

Getting there and moving around

As already pointed out, Calais is not only unpleasant as usual for a mainly commercial port town, but it is also living a particularly bad moment, being overcrowded with immigrants posing some security problem. Fearing for my car I elected to park close to the beach way east of the ‘Oldenburg’ battery and of the refugee camp. A convenient parking used by some friendly hunters and local traffic can be found between Le Fort Verd and Les Hemmes de Marck. When driving east towards the latter (along Rue Jean Bart), turn left on a public unpaved road with no signs pointing straight to the coastline. The road turns sharply left towards Calais at some point, and you find a prohibition sign telling not to go further, and a good parking with some information panels. You can park there.

For reaching the ‘Waldam’ battery I would suggest using Google Maps or something similar on your phone – coverage is very strong. This is to avoid wasting time on dead-end passages between the countless ponds and puddles in the area.

The road you can’t drive on going west (Digue Taaf) will lead you back to the ‘Oldenburg’ battery. For reaching the ‘Waldam’ battery you will need to move north of the road, in the hunting area between the road and the beach.

From the parking to the ‘Oldenburg’ battery is about 1.5 miles one-way. Touring the area is a physically requiring task not only for the distance, but for you have to find your way on uneven terrain, with fields of brambles and nettles. You can have much fun if you like exploring and you go prepared, only don’t forget to bring some water and snacks – you are on a beach after all, so it will be hot and you will be totally exposed to sunlight.

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